The Road Paved by Blood and Tears
by ghostfacekiller39
Summary: MilesxFranziska fanfic that gives accounts of their upbringing under Manfred von Karma, followed by a relationship that develops. I rewrote my outline to feature 2 trials between Phoenix and Edgeworth. At least once a day updating. DISCLAIMER: Capcom owns these characters, not me. UPDATE: I'm dedicating this work to my cousin, who just lost his battle with cancer. R.I.P, 1973-2013
1. Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: I listened to the extended versions of these songs from the series on Youtube while I was writing this story, so I think it adds to the overall experience to do so. I'll be updating this with each new song I listen to, but there are a couple of _Gyukaten Kenji 2/Ace Attorney Investigations 2 _tracks, so if you don't want to hear those songs before playing the game (whenever it'll be released outside of Japan), just ignore this note. All of these except Reminiscence-DL-6 case have a 30 minute extension on Youtube, while the exception has a 15 minute extension.**

**Ch. 1-6 Reminiscence-DL-6 case PW:AA**

**Ch. 7-9 Reminiscence-Lamenting People GK2/AAI2**

**Ch. 10-15, 31 Reminiscence - The Girl's Lost Memories GK2/AAI2**

**Ch. 16 - 17 Lamirior - Sound of a Landscape Artist - AJ:AA**

**Ch. 18 Recollection - Scenery Where the Hazy Bridge is Seen - PW:T&T**

**Ch. 19 - 22 - Reminiscence - True Pain - PW:JFA**

**Ch. 23 - 28 - Reminiscence - The Fall of the House of Lang - GK2/AAI2**

**Ch. 29 - Larry Butz - Still in the Shadow of the Incident - PW:T&T (One off for this chapter alone.)**

**Ch. 30 - Unused - Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney Soundtrack - PW:AA**

**Ch. 32 - End - Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Soundtrack - PW:AA**

**Yeahh, there's no lyrics in any of these songs, and the titles have nothing to do with the story I'm writing, so it just adds to the atmosphere I wanted to create, and shouldn't take your focus away from the story. Well, Enjoy! **

A young Miles Edgeworth clutched his prized Captain America flashlight tightly against him as he lay in his new home.

The von Karma manor seemed so cold, so unforgiving, so unwelcoming. He'd never been as scared and alone as he was in this house,at this moment,on this day.

He got out of the bed and searched through his unpacked luggage and pulled out a journal his father had given him for his birthday.

He made a small tent under his blanket and turned on his Captain America flashlight. He choked back tears as he read the note his father had written in the first page just 23 days before.

_Miles, a defense attorney never shows anger, fear, or sadness. They always smile to the very end. I got you this small journal like mine to write in whenever you feel weak. Remember son, I'm always going to be here for you._

_ Love, Dad_

He couldn't fight back the tears any longer, and as he clicked the pen to write the date of his first journal entry, the tears rolled down. Out of fear of his new family, he remained completely silent as he allowed himself to cry under his makeshift tent in his incredibly dark new room.

_December 28, 2001 _

He skipped a few lines to avoid having to write on a few of his tears that had hit the page.

_It seems like only minutes ago my father was holding my hand as we walked into the courthouse. I remember being excited, although these feelings of excitement seem gray and distant now. I loved watching my father in action; I was so proud of him. I always told Phoenix and Larry about how I was going to be a defense attorney just like him someday. _

Immediately after writing out the names of his two best friends, he wondered if he would ever see them again. He continued his account of the day;

_After watching him in action, we were walking towards the elevator. I was telling him how proud I was of him, even though he lost, because he had given it his all. As soon as we entered the elevator with the bailiff from today's trial, the ground began to shake..._

Miles shuddered, causing more tears to fall from his face onto the page.

_...We were trapped. The bailiff and my father began to argue; the bail tf was going crazy and my father just tried to calm him down...he attacked my father...I just threw something at him to try to get him to stop...it was a gun._

_ A gunshot rang out...and I heard a next thing I remember, the bailiff and myself were being escorted out of the elevator. Although they rushed me out as quickly as possible, I saw my father, slumped over...dead from a gunshot wound._

More tears hit the page.

_I had killed my father._

With this, he closed the journal and put it in a safe place. He continued to silently cry as he clutched his most prized possession as tightly as a 10-year old could to his body.

He thought about things like his new family. _Why did Mr. von Karma take me in? ...he doesn't seem to be the type to do things like this out of the goodness of his heart..._

He wondered if he'd ever see Larry or Phoenix again. _We were supposed to meet up at the park after the trial today...I wonder what they did without me..._

But most of all, he thought about his father. _I killed my dad...he's dead...I'll never seen him again..._ After thinking this, he felt a bubble rising in his throat, as if he couldn't just let the tears roll any longer and he had to let out a moan of despair and sorrow.

Before he could, it was almost as if he saw his dad and heard him say "_A defense attorney never shows his weaknesses to others."_

After a while, morning came and his tears had dried up. He went to his personal restroom to check if Mr. von Karma would be able to tell if he had been crying, and, luckily, there were no signs.

He walked down the stairs to see the butler feeding Mr. von Karma's infant daughter her breakfast and esteemed prosecutor, and his new legal guardian, Manfred von Karma reading a newspaper over a black cup of coffee.

He approached the prosecuting god; "U-uh...umm...M-mr. von K-Karma?"

Manfred von Karma didn't give the young boy any of his attention.

Miles Edgeworth nervously tugged on the older gentleman's sleeve. "...M-m-Mr. von Karma..?

Manfred von Karma looked up from his newspaper irately and snapped his fingers so loudly the sound echoed throughout the mansion.

"That's Mr. von Karma, _Sir, _to you, young boy."


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

_5 years later_

Edgeworth awoke the smell of breakfast; although he's been living here for the past 5 years, German breakfast didn't smell nearly as good as breakfast in America, and he couldn't help but wish he awoke to a breakfast of blueberry pancakes like his father made for him on Sunday mornings such as this.

He quickly got dressed, putting on his cravat on to complete his favorite look. He loathed having to be homeschooled by private tutors with Franziska (especially when Mr. von Karma took over the reigns of the classroom.) and having to go to school 7 days a week. He grabbed his books on law and made his way down the stairs, only to be greeted by a riding crop wielding 7 year old.

_SMACK! _"YOU FOOL, MILES EDGEWORTH! YOU ARE 1 MINUTE AND 33 SECONDS LATE!" _SMACK! _"A VON KARMA IS NEVER LATE!"

Edgeworth smirked as he rubbed his shoulder. "Good morning to you as well, Franziska." _When Franziska is this angry, she's adorable...if only that riding crop didn't sting so much..._

_ SMACK! _"Sit down! Class is about to start, and my papa is teaching us today." Her childish high-pitched yelling had ceased from eardrum shattering to a quiet roar, and although Franziska was smiling with pride as she said this, he saw right through her eyes to see how scared she really was. He couldn't blame her; he was nearly trembling with fear himself. He pulled a chair out at the large, wooden table and took a seat.

The butler had brought them their breakfast of an english muffin each with tea for Edgeworth and a glass of milk for Franziska. Mr. von Karma had deemed Miles old enough to drink coffee for breakfast at the age of 13, but he couldn't stand the taste, so he opted for tea instead. Franziska was still too young for anything but milk. When they had finished their breakfast, Manfred von Karma approached them from out of the shadows and set a test out for each of them on the foundations of prosecuting and had them set their books aside; He pulled out his 24-karat gold pocket watch. "You have 3 minutes each to complete this exam; and you both should know the rules by now:" Manfred snapped his fingers. "NOTHING less than perfection is acceptable."

Edgeworth began reading over the exam; _Piece of cake..._ He answered all 10 of the questions correctly, and did so while counting how long it took him to finish: 2 minutes and 17 seconds. Around 30 seconds later, Franziska finished her exam and Manfred put on his reading glasses as he took up both tests to look over them for any and all inperfections. Miles' heart was beating faster and faster with each passing second as the God of Prosecutors looked over his test. Mr. von Karma looked up with a smarmy and sinister smile;

"Very good, Miles. You have met my criteria."

Edgeworth stood up out of his chair and bowed for his mentor; "Only perfection is acceptable, sir."

Manfred only let out a "Hmph." as he set Edgeworth's test on the dining table and prepared to look over Franziska's next. He looked more and more discontent with each passing second; Miles looked over at Franziska and saw her sweating bullets in the seat beside him; At first, he felt grateful that he wasn't a 7 year old being forced to compete with a 15 year old in the study of law, but a little while afterwards, he felt sorry for the little girl. Finally, Manfred looked up from her test.

"Franziska, you failed to meet my expectations." He took out his binder and pulled out a copy of the von Karma creed, which Edgeworth had known all too well by now, and shoved it towards the young blue haired girl. "I believe you know what to do with this."

Franziska spoke up as sweat rolled down her face; "B-but, papa, I...!"

Manfred von Karma raised his hand and struck the young girl across the face with it. Knowing his was unable to do anything about it, Miles just hoped she didn't cry like last time as her eyes remained fixtated on the floor beside her, which was the position it had been set in after her father's blow. Luckily, she didn't.

"Sorry, papa. It won't happen again." Manfred remained completely apathetic, as if he didn't even slap his 7 year old daughter as she began copying down the von Karma creed in cursive 1000 times over while Miles received more lessons on prosecuting. By the time lunch had rolled around, Franziska was only halfway there, and she wouldn't be able to eat or even leave the table until she was done.

Manfred went out to the back porch to smoke a cigar during Miles' lunch break in which he received a tuna sandwich with a side of carrots and a cup of tea; he looked over at Franziska knowing full well she wouldn't get lunch today. He tore off a piece of his sandwich and held it towards her. "Here, Franziska. Do you want some of my sandwich?" _SMACK! _

"No! Not if I get it from you!"

Miles knew this routine all too well; he set the piece of his sandwich down on his napkin. As what happened last time, Franziska kept stopping her copying of the creed to glance down at the sandwich piece Edgeworth had set aside for her; finally, when she thought he wasn't looking, she took it and ate it quickly, before her father could come back inside/ before she thought Miles would notice. Miles took a sip of his tea; "You're welcome." Franziska let a out short "Hmph." and continued her work on copying down the creed.

When Manfred dismissed Miles for the day and stole away to his study, Miles did what had become a tradition to him everyday after school; retreated into his room and wrote into a journal. The original one his father had given him had long been filled, but he kept it as a memento in memorial of his father. He wrote about what had happened at school today, how he made a perfect grade on his test, how Manfred had struck Franziska, and how he remembered when Mr. von Karma often struck him like that when he had started to learn the von Karma way.

After writing the day's events down, he closed the book and stuffed it inside of the drawer of his end table, and began to wait for Franziska to come to his room when she was through being punished. He closed his eyes and took a nap.

_SMACK! _Franziska's riding crop stung him even worse when he wasn't prepared for it. He looked up. "Hey, Franziska. How can I help you?" Fortunately, unlike the sandwich deal, this happened every day. Franziska just shot him a cold stare. Everyday at one point she would come into his room and treat him with disdain and contempt; when she started doing this a couple of years ago, Miles was frightened, but he had grown used to it by now, and had also learned what she liked for him to do during these visits. Like everyday, he sat up and made room for Franziska to sit beside him on the bed, and like everyday, she refused. He began to tell her stories of the things he had done with Phoenix and Larry; her favorite story was the classroom trial. She tried hiding her interest, but Miles knew he had every ounce of her attention, so he continued.

When he was done, Franziska turned and walked out of the room. Edgeworth couldn't help but feel sorry for the young girl. She had never had any friends or even met anyone outside of him, her father, and the family servants. Everyday, she would come into his room and want to hear the same stories about him and his friends, and everyday he'd tell her the same stories. After this daily exchange, Miles had one of the butlers bring him a cup of tea and he'd watch the sun set in the German sky out in the vast backyard of the von Karma manor; He would wonder about Larry and Phoenix, wonder about his dad, and just wonder about life outside of the manor. Sometimes, he would bring his journal and write a story about lawyers and prosecutors and the like; however today was not one of those days. He thought to himself as he took a sip of his tea; _Ah, how the dog days of life have just began._


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3

Franziska went over the pajamas that were laid out on her bed by the butler; although she liked the light blue primary color with dark blue polka dots, that was not what she was looking at. She wanted to make sure that the foolish old butler had laid out her pajamas to her specifactions. Next, she went to her bathroom to see if the butler had set out her toothbrush and toothpaste like she wanted; she noted the toothbrush was on the right side. "ALFRED!" An elderly old man in a tuxedo bumbled his way into the room. "Yes, Ms. Franziska?"

_SMACK!_ "Tell me, Alfred, what hand am I holding my riding crop in?"

The butler held his head down in shame. "Your left, Ms. Franziska." _SMACK! _"And what side of the sink is my toothbrush on?" Alfred seemed more and more humiliated and degraded with his response this time; "The right side, Ms. Franziska." _SMACK! SMACK! _The old gentleman hurredly switched the toothbrush over to the opposite side of the sink and assisted Franziska in moving her stepping stool over in front of the mirror so she could see her reflection as she brushed her teeth. Franziska then dismissed the longtime family butler after she had finished; "Thank you, Alfred. You are excused." Alfred quickly made his way out of the rather intimidating 7 year old's room.

As Franziska laid down in bed with her riding crop beside her, she couldn't help but wonder what her brother was doing in the room down the hall; her room was at the front of the top floor hallway while Miles' at the back; she hated to admit it, but she enjoyed every second she was with him ever since she could remember him in her life. She knew he only looked at her as a younger sibling, and wouldn't have any interest in her anyways, as he was 8 years her senior. Franziska then felt proud of herself as she turned off the lamp in her room. _Oh, Franziska. 7 years old and making better deductions than the family butler. _

She awoke the next morning and got dressed in her usual outfit and made her way down the stairs to wait for school to start. She was always at school before Miles, but today was the day she especially enjoyed; she and Miles did the mandatory school work of Math, Science, Reading, Writing, and History. Both she and Miles excelled in these subjects, although the tutor didn't give them the same assignments, unlike her father. He gave Franziska the work a 10-year old would be doing and gave Miles the work an 18-year old would be doing. She loved this school work, however. It wasn't as pressure-filled and demanding as her papa's assignments.

Miles Edgeworth was a little over a minute late. _SMACK! _As usual, Miles just rubbed his shoulder and bid Franziska a good morning. The tutor (Franziska really never had the desire to learn the man's name) was a rather large man, and was quite sweaty. He had but a small tuft of light brown hair atop his head and a glaring shine around it, along with a pair of small round glasses concealing his eyes. He prepared their assignments as the family servants brought Miles and Franziska a breakfast of eggs and toast with their usual beverages along with them. Franziska wished she could drink tea like Miles; but her papa wouldn't allow it at her age.

After they finished their breakfast, the large man greeted them in his booming voice; "Greetings, Miles! Greetings, Franziska! Are you ready for school today?" _SMACK! _"A-ah!"

Franziska didn't think she had time for stupid questions; "No. We are just sitting here with our pencils and our books." The stout man let out a laughter that seemed to work it's way up from his gut; "Oh hoh hoh! You're always on top of things, aren't you, Franziska?" With that, he passed out their assignments and began playingon his computer in case one of them had a question, although they never did.

As the day passed by, both children began dishing out 100s on their assignments until everything was all done a little ways after lunch. Franziska did enjoy the simple work and the usually early time of dismissal, but her favorite part of these days was going around to the eastern side of the manor in order to help Ms. Maria care for the family vegetable garden. As soon as she got out of school, Franziska grabbed her sun bonnet and made her way over to the garden where Ms. Maria was waiting for her before she started. Maria was a short, stocky woman of hispanic descent with short reddish-black hair and a pair of rather large framed glasses; Franziska felt as if she was the only one of the family's workers she could tolerate.

As both women made their way through the large garden, Franziska watched Ms. Maria care for the plants and carried the basket she placed the weeds she pulled out in directly in front of her while she held her riding crop at the same time. Maria was always a smiling woman who often complimented Franziska and acted as if the young child never got in the way of her job, always welcoming her to the garden whenever she pleased and, on days like this, never started until Franziska had arrived. However, Franziska's favorite thing about Ms. Maria was that she cared for the garden and it's plants to absolute perfection that a von Karma such as herself would be proud of.

They walked along each aisle of plants; Franziska's favorite ones were always the turnips, and since they grew at a quicker rate than most of the other plants, Maria would sometimes pull one out of the ground and let her keep it as long as Franziska promised to wash it off well before she ate it. A grin came over her face as Maria handed her a turnip; _Miles may think it's weird how I eat these raw, but I just like them so much..._

After following Maria around the garden until she was done for the day, Franziska quickly hung her sun bonnet on the hat rack and washed up in order for her daily trip to Miles' room. She slowly walked up the stairs, although she wanted to run, so that way Miles would not pick up on her excitement from the sounds of her feet stomping on the hollow staircase; she had made that mistake once, and she did not plan on making it again.

She walked into her adopted brother's room to see him reading a large book whose cover read _Where the Red Fern Grows. _She approached an unaware Edgeworth and sent him a cold greeting; "Hello, Miles Edgeworth." He placed his finger on the sentence he stopped on and placed his bookmark, a picture of him and his father, on the page so he could shut the book. "Hey, Franziska. How may I help you today." _SMACK! _"Don't ask questions you already know the answers to, Miles Edgeworth. My papa taught me that." Edgeworth did as he usually did, reciting the tales of him and his friends adventures. Franziska longed for friends like he had, sure; but the real reason she had come up to his room everyday was for the conversation between the two of them it provided.

After he was done, Franziska bid him her farewell and left the room. She retired to her room to study up on the law; she couldn't handle disappointing her father, so she was determined to become an even better prosecutor than he was, although she knew that this was unlikely. Nighttime came around, and Franziska went through her usual nightly yelling at Alfred and laid down in bed with her riding crop by her side. However, this night would turn into the nights Franziska feared most: a thunderstorm.

As she closed her eyes to go to bed, the booming sound of thunder spread through her house and through her room; she opened her eyes and sat up with a gasp, only to find herself staring at the closed door in her incredibly dark room. The sound of thunder crashing continued; this was the worst storm she had ever experienced in her life. She couldn't handle being alone anymore; she got out of bed and started towards Miles' room.

As she made her way to the door, however, an especially loud clap of thunder struck through her house; this startled her, causing her to drop her riding crop on to the pitch-black floor. Frantically, she got down on her hands and knees and searched for as she fought back tears of fear and self-doubt; thunder struck again, causing her to let out a small yelp. Quickly, she got up and ran towards Miles' room, leaving her riding crop behind.

She ran into Edgeworth's room to find him sitting up in his bed; "Franziska, I heard you running down the hall; is everything alright?" She ran up to him and hugged him tight as she was sobbing. "Miles Edgeworth! I...I...dropped my r-riding crop!" Miles hugged back and patted her on the back as she cried as an older brother would do; "Here. You can stay in my room tonight." He moved over to make room for her on his bed. Franziska was reluctant at first, but realized this was the only way she'd be able to get any sleep tonight. She let out a sniffle; "O-ok." and proceeded to lay down beside her brother in his bed. He had scooted over to the edge of his bed and left her with most of the blankets. It was when she noticed this that Franziska realized how grateful she was to have an older brother like Miles Edgeworth.


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

Miles had made it a point to wake up early to carry Franziska back to her bedroom before anyone else woke up. He laid her down softly in bed, and started out the door when he found her riding crop on the floor and decided to lay it beside her; as he did this, the young girl, still sleeping, grabbed on to the riding crop and pulled it close to her side.

He made his way back i nto his room and laid down in his bed. He was unable to go to sleep, so he just closed his eyes and rested. He did not mind this; he avoided sleep as much as possible. Ever since that day 5 years ago, every dream he had was a nightmare; one that involved a demonic scream, an earthquake in an elevator, and a 10 year old version of himself throwing a gun that ultimately fired, killing his father.

He lay like this until 7 a.m, when it was time for him to wake up for breakfast and school; Mr. von Karma only taught one day a week, leaving that strange fat man to give them their work the other 6 days of the week. Some of it was regular schoolwork that both he and Franziska breezed through, but most of it was work Mr. von Karma left behind that pertained to law and prosecution. After they were both finished with their daily routine, Miles escaped into his room to read a book the butler, Alfred, had checked out for him at the public library.

His fingertips trembled with excitement as he picked up a book about a boy and his two hunting dogs entitled _Where the Red Fern Grows. _He opened to the place in the book marked by a picture of a young version of himself and his father on a fishing trip together; he glanced at the picture for a moment, but feelings of grief swept over him, so he quickly immersed himself within the pages of the book. After he read for about 30 minutes or so, a knock came at his door. He knew this wasn't Franziska, as she never knocked, so it must've been Alfred with some tea or a new book.

Miles granted entrance into his room, and the family butler came in, closing the door behind him in case Mr. von Karma was to come down the hall. "Hello, Master Edgeworth." Miles placed his finger on the sentence of the page he was on and looked up. "Hello, Alfred. How may I help you?" The old man pulled what appeared to be a thin, orange book from behind his back. "This is what you youngsters call a 'comic book' I believe. My grandson really enjoys these, so I thought you might enjoy it as well, Master Edgeworth." He handed the book over to Miles, he looked the bright yellow letters on the neon orange cover, and the shiny, silver, sword-and-spear wielding man depicted on said cover. He read the title to himself; _The Steel Samurai._ He didn't want to turn down Alfred's thoughful gift, although he found it to seem a bit silly at the time. "Thank you, Alfred. Anything else?" Alfred thought to himself for a second. "Mmm...no, nothing I can think of, Master Edgeworth." A smirk shot over Miles' face. "Then I suggest you leave, Alfred. You know Franziska comes up here everyday, and it's getting to be the time she comes up." A look of fear and shock came over the old man's face; "A-ah, yes, I, erghh, have business to take care of, if you'll excuse me, Master Edgeworth. Y-you know, dishes to clean, dogs to feed..." His voice trailed off down the hall as Miles was amused by the grown man's lack of ability to conceal his fear of a 7 year old girl.

Upon this, he placed his picture into his new spot in his book and promptly closed it. He had an idea for his and Franziska's encounter that day that broke off from their usual routine. He began searching through his book-laden end table drawer for book he thought she'd enjoy. He pulled out a dusty old book with yellow pages and a torn cover. _SMACK! _"Miles Edgeworth! I've been standing here for 5 minutes and you have yet to extend a greeting to me. What is the meaning of this?" Edgeworth felt a ton of fury in Franziska's riding crop as he rubbed the back of his neck where her crop had made contact. "Hello, Franziska. I was just finding a book for us to read together." He extended the book for her to see. "You can't possibly want to hear the same stories you've been hearing for the past 2 years now, can you?"

She handed the book back to him, and he read the cover to himself as he swept some of the dust off of the old book. _The Call of the Wild. _Franziska hugged herself tight; "I...um..." Miles made room for her on the bed beside him. "I first read this book when I was a little older than you; I think you'll enjoy it, Franziska." She laid down beside him and he put his arm around her in a brotherly fashion and reached to hold the book with both hands; as he did this, he felt her tense up. He turned to the first page and began reading: _"Chapter One..."_

After an hour or so (Miles had intended to read her a chapter a day, but after he finished the first one, she pleaded for him to read her another) he had finished reading to her, and Franziska got up and left the room, visibly less angry than she normally was. Miles felt a sense of pride after seeing this, as he had made a positive impact on the young girl he came to see as his little sister's day. He then got out of his bed himself with his journal to make his way to the kitchen for a cup of tea to accompany him on his daily retreat into the backyard.

After he had picked up his cup of tea, he exited through the backdoor and took a seat in the chair he always chose to sit at; he placed his cup of tea on the small table beside him and opened his journal. As he was writing the date, he smelled cigar smoke, followed by the sound of a cane hitting the concrete of a back porch. He looked up to see his mentor, Manfred von Karma, standing beside him with a cigar in his mouth, looking into the vast backyard with a case file held between his arm and his side. Miles extended a greeting; "Good afternoon, sir." The legendary prosecutor didn't seem to notice him until he spoke up. He sucked on his cigar, causing the cherry on the end to light up, and turned to Miles, blowing the disgusting aroma of cigar smoke into his face. "Be gone boy, I need no disturbances as I look over my notes for a case." He motioned towards the door to the house with the cigar between his two fingers. Miles got up, and when he was to where Manfred couldn't hear him, let out a sigh of dissappointment. He saw Franziska standing at her doorway, giving him a look of pity as he made his way back to his room. He heard his father saying "_A defense attorney never shows his weaknesses to others and smiles until the very end." _He gave the young blue haired girl a smile and said, "Hey, Franziska." as he walked past her to his room.


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5

_3 years later_

Franziska felt the sun beating down on her and the sweat rolling off of her forehead as she tended to the garden she had took over responsibility for after Ms. Maria lost her battle with cancer. As she succeeded Maria's role in the tending of the family vegetable garden, her papa demanded Alfred succeed her role as assistant, all though she doesn't remember being as useless and in the way as he was, and she knew for a fact she looked better in a sun bonnet than the wrinkly old man did.

She noticed Edgeworth seated on the back porch, writing in his journal over a cup of tea as he usually did after school, but the sun was out in a blue sky instead of the sunset she knew he preferred, as they did not have school that day. Her papa had granted them the luxury of a regular 5-day school week during the summertime. She brushed her gloves together to get some of the dirt that had been piling up on them as she watched him longingly, only to be brought out of her daze by a certain bumbling butler. "Oh, dear. Ms. Franziska, I-I seem to have crushed a small plant under my heel...if you would be kind enough to forgive..." _SMACK! SMACK! _"MEEEEEEE!"

Oh, how she was grateful for her trusty riding crop. After hitting the butler with it, she looked over it with a smile as she reminiscened over the times her and the crop had shared. She continued watering and weeding the plants in the row she was currently on, wondering what her younger brother was always writing about in those things. Ever since she could remember, he was always writing down something in one of his journals during his free time, and the curiousity that had been building up in her all these years was about to boil over. She began getting frustrated with her lack of knowledge of what was inside of Miles' journals, and decided to take out her frustrations on a nearby butler. _SMACK! SMACK! SMACK! SMACK! _The butler began rubbing his forearm in pain, as that was as far up as the short young girl could reach towards the rather tall man.

Later that evening, Manfred called a now 18-year old Miles Edgeworth into his office to help prepare for a trial he was to assist the legendary prosecutor on. At first, Franziska was extremely jealous of the invitation that was not extended to her, but, after she had stormed up to her room in frustration, she realized the oppurtunity this granted her with, an oppurtunity to relieve her of the curiousity that had been building up inside of her for all these years.

She peeped out the door to notice that the maid had just finished cleaning Miles' room and was making her way down the hall. Anxiety got the best of her, and she began to tiptoe down towards her little brother's room as soon as the maid had walked past her own room. She began opening his clothing drawers, and came managed to come across the rather unpleasant stench of Edgeworth's sock drawer before she felt like the biggest fool in Germany. She snapped her fingers. _Arghh! How could I forget! He keeps his books and his journals in the drawer of his end table! _If it had been someone else to make such a foolish oversight, she would've hit them with her riding crop, but she failed to see the point in hitting herself with it, so she just let it go as she made her way over to the table by Miles' bed.

She quickly opened the door and began rummaging through it haphazardly; when she finally found one of his journals that intrigued her, she picked it up and began to read it. She felt enamoured with his true self, but at the same time felt as if he were a fool. Once she'd was satisfied with how much she had read about him, she shoved the journal back into the drawer of the table beside his bed and, in a rare moment of unclarity, she quickly slammed the drawer shut a bit too hard, causing the table to rattle. She looked back at the table to see the lamp that rest on top of it spinning around on its base before it lost it's balance and crashed into the ground, shattering into pieces.

Frantically, Franziska tried putting the pieces back together, but found it much harder to do this than the jigsaw puzzles she worked on at the dinner table when she was bored. Despite her best efforts, she failed to recreate the lamp she had accidentally broke. She grew more and more worried while she was thinking about what Miles would think of her, after finding out she was snooping around in his room while he wasn't in there, but, out of the blue, she made a startling realization that led to an idea. She quickly ran out of his room and back to hers to fetch the lamp that sit on her end table, which was identical to the one she had broke. She unplugged it and ran back to Miles' room, and put it in place of the lamp she had accidentally broke. As she sweeped up some tiny pieces of glass into her leather-glove clad hand to dispose of in her room, she noticed that their rooms were identical in everyway, except the color theme of the rooms, as hers was powder blue with a white trim while his was crimson red with a black trim.

After she had flushed the remaining evidence of her visit to Miles' room, she hurredly returned to her own room as she heard his footsteps drumming up the staircase. She jumped onto her bed and picked up a book of law, just in case he made a surprise stop by her room, but luckily he didn't. She let out a sigh of relief after she heard his door shut.

30 minutes later, she found herself in his room, ready to hear him read her a story about a boy from Southern America and his two hunting dogs. She didn't find this story as good as the first one he read to her 3 years ago, but she liked it none-the-less.

After he read her two chapters, she decided to inquire about his visit with her papa earlier. As he closed the book, he felt Franziska's riding crop. _SMACK! _"Miles Edgeworth! What did you discuss with my papa earlier?" She asked in a demanding tone. Edgeworth shrugged off the sting of her riding crop and politely answered her question; "I'm to be assisting him on a trial tomorrow. He's preparing me for my BAR exam, so he thought watching him in action would teach me some things about how to prosecute." _SMACK! _"Of course he will, and he will do it in a way only a von Karma can!" she pointed at him to get her point across better. "_Perfectly."_ With that, Franziska felt that it was an appropriate time to make her exit, but as she walked to towards the door, he stopped her. "Oh, and Franziska?" She turned to face him once again. "Yes?"

He closed his eyes and smirked; "Thank you for the lamp."


	6. Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6

Miles Edgeworth awoke in bed like every other morning. However, he knew very well that this was not like every other morning. He quickly got dressed to meet his mentor, prosecuting god Manfred von Karma, downstairs to go over the trial today, as he was to listen in on the trial as a learning experience. Miles Edgeworth also knew, however, that wasn't the only big thing happening to him that day.

He was returning to America to attend law school later that very evening.

With Mr. von Karma's tutelage (and, Miles expected some of his mentor's pull to be involved as well) he had obtained his undergraduate's degree at the age of 18, when most students his age were just now receiving their high school diplomas. He felt bad for leaving Franziska behind, knowing that he was probably the only person she had in the world right now, but he had to do what had to be done. He had to go back to America to figure out the entire truth of the incident that happened 8 years ago...what had really happened in that elevator that day, and he didn't care if it took him the rest of his life; he was going to find the truth.

He walked down the stairs on this dark, gloomy morning to find Manfred von Karma reading the newspaper of a cup of the blackest coffee money could buy. _Perhaps,_ Miles thought, _if the only kind of coffee we had in this house wasn't so strong and bitter, I would be drinking that instead of tea._

Manfred von Karma immediately looked up from his newspaper when Miles had finished his thought, as if he had read his mind just then. He snapped; "Don't let your mind wonder like weak, pathetic fool, boy. You need to be absolutely and perfectly prepared for the trial today, whether you're prosecuting it or not. No disciple of mine will be imperfect, no matter what, and trust me, boy, you could use the learning experience of witnessing a perfect trial for _future reference._" The last words he spoke had a sinister twist to them.

Miles simply bowed in agreement. "Understood, sir." With that, his mentor interrogated him about every single aspect of the trial, down to every dotted i and crossed t. When Miles Edgeworth gave him every single detail of the trial in perfect form, Manfred finally felt ready to go. As they walked out of the car, Miles decided to bring up something he saw in the case file that bothered him. "Excuse me, sir." Manfred looked over his car's hood with an expression of malicious interest in what Miles had to say. "There's one thing that bothered me in the report; the murder weapon had two sets of fingerprints on it, and one of them belonged to a witness you prepared yourself."

Manfred snapped his fingers at the young man once more; "A prosecutor's soul purpose is to find the defendant guilty. No more, no less, and I expect a member of the house of von Karma to understand that much, plus the fact that not doing so is entirely unacceptable. Do I make myself clear, boy?"

"Yes, sir." Manfred let out a "Hmph." and entered his car, followed by Edgeworth entering through the passenger seat.

When they arrived at court, Manfred told Edgeworth to sit at the front of the gallery, and that he would be personally inspecting the boy's notes after the trial. Miles simply gave the response he felt obliged to give, but not out of respect, instead, out of fear; "Understood, sir."

Miles sat in the gallery, taking notes over every last detail on the trial, and having a seperate page beside it for Mr. von Karma's behavior and attitude alone. As he watched the young defense attorney falter at the defense's bench across from a completely control Manfred von Karma. Although the witness he had prepared slipped up several times, implicating himself as the murderer, Manfred quickly had these things stricken from the record. When the judge announced the guilty verdict at the end of the trial, the defendant, a woman who appeared to be no older than Miles himself, had to be carried away by the bailiff, screaming her innocence in tears. Miles felt he had no choice but to simply ignore this outburst.

After court was dismissed, Manfred had packed up his belongings in his suitcase and made his way over to Miles to inspect his notes, as he had said he was to do so before the case. Miles saw the dark shadow hanging over him with an outstreched hand as he put the finishing touches on his notes over the trial. He handed his mentor the notes. "I believe you will find everything to be in the proper order, sir." Manfred disregarded what the young man had to say as he read his notes, his eyes combing through every details, as if he were simply trying to find any and all imperfections rather than notice Miles' incredibly competent and well-organized notes.

"Very good, Miles. Now let us go. I believe you have some packing to do." Miles bowed before him again; "Yes, sir." They left the courthouse and got to Manfred's luxury sedan, and rode back to the manor in complete and utter silence.

As soon as they entered the manor, Miles began to pack his belongings into his suitcase for the trip back to America; one he would not be returning from. Franziska walked into his room for their daily reading session, but noticed he had packed all of his belongings. "Miles Edgeworth. Why are all of your possesion packed up?" Miles sat down on the bed, and told Franziska about how he would be leaving for America; not to be returning. He could see the anger and sadness building up inside of Franziska, along with the tears building up in her eyes; _SMACK!_ "But little brother! You are a member of the house of von Karma! You must stay here, and prosecute in Germany!" Miles closed his eyes, as he felt the feeling of sadness building up inside of him as well. "I'm sorry, Franziska. That's just not in the cards for me." Before Franziska could hit him with her riding crop again, he pulled out a small box out from under his bed with the words _To Franziska _written on it; "Here. I want you to have this before I leave." Franziska opened up the box and began to cry warm tears; First she pulled out Miles' Captain America flashlight, followed by the book they were reading together at the time, then the picture of him and his father fishing. Finally, she began to shake as she pulled out the final item; the first book they read together. _"The Call of the Wild..." _She reached over towards Miles' coat and began drying her eyes on it. "But little brother...you can't leave me here..." Miles heard Alfred call from down the hall; "Master Edgeworth, I am to take you to the airport now for your flight. Please be completely ready. I will be waiting for you downstairs." Franziska blew her nose onto his jacket as he stood up, suitcase in tow. As he walked towards the door, Franziska fell onto her knees.

"Miles Edgeworth..." she said as she fought back the tears and tried to keep her speech coherent; "If you leave me here...I will never forgive you...I will hate you for the rest of my life."

Miles simply turned back, trying to remain as apathetic and professional as possible. "I'm sorry to hear that, Franziska."

And with that, he left the little girl crying on the floor, alone in the empty, unfurnished room that used to belong to him, shedding a single tear as he made his exit from the place he called home for the past 8 years.


	7. Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7

Franziska had seen Miles very infrequently over the next few years of her life; once when she was 13, and once the previous year when she was 18, but not a day in her life went by that she didn't think of him. With most people she hadn't seen in a while, she forget how they looked or how their voice sounded, but not with him. Everyone except him that had taken part in her upbringing was now dead; and she was all alone in a vast von Karma manor in Germany now. The house she had been brought up in was now a desolate, barren, ghost of a house that only provided sad memories she wish she could let go of. She walked up the staircase to her old bedroom; all the lights in the house were turned off, and she kneeled down beside her bed to pull out a box that she looked at everyday in the dark von Karma manor. She pulled out a Captain America flashlight and turned it on, shining it like a spotlight in a room she had left purposely dark.

She continued doing this as she lay down on the floor beside her bed. She thought about what Miles was doing now over in America, and about all the times she had gone to his room just to hear him speak; about all the times the had sat together at the dining room table for school; just about the warmth and caring he had provided for her in a time when no one else did. She smiled to herself as she sat back up to place the flashlight back into it's box. She closed it and saw Miles' handwriting on the top. She once again smiled as she picked up the box to carry it downstairs with her, to put with the rest of her belongings.

Her new butler greeted her; he wasn't as fun as she remembered Alfred to be, but death is inevitable for everyone, unfortunately. "Hello, Ms. Franziska. Are you ready for your trip to the airport?" Franziska simply nodded her head. "No. I have one more thing I must take care of." She went down towards the side of the manor that she never ventured into under any circumstances; her father's.

She opened the unlocked door to his study to find a demonically dark room that she felt fit the circumstances of her first time entering her papa's favorite room. Everything had been left as it was the last time he left the manor, which resulted in him being charged with the murder for Miles' father and promptly executed. She picked up a picture frame containing a newspaper article about his 40-year winning streak. She looked at it for a little bit, and then slammed the frame onto the ground with all of her might, shattering the glass that protected the article.

She walked back to the living room for to help move her things into her car. The butler tried making polite conversation as they did this, but it just didn't feel right to have someone besides Alfred moving with her to the von Karma estate in America; she stopped him mid-sentence.

"You're not coming with me."

The butler tried pleading his case, but it fell on deaf ears. _CRACK! _"See to it that this house gets sold and 90% of the profits are to be transferred to my bank account in America, and the other 10% is for your retirement." The butler nodded in understanding, realizing he'll never have to work again with the money he'll receive from this transaction. With that, Franziska got into her car and drove to the airport for her one-way flight to America.

She decided to make this move because she felt that Germany had nothing left to offer her, and she had a few things she needed to reconcile in America; a defense attorney to defeat, and someone very important to her to reunite with. She knew she loved Miles Edgeworth, and not just like a brother. She had always known this, ever since the first time she remembered meeting him. She can remember how happy she was when she found out he wasn't her biological brother from Alfred, and so she felt safe going to his room to talk to him after that, but she never knew what to say at first, so she just hit him with her riding crop instead (which she had traded in for a whip when she turned 16) until she saw him crying in there one day.

She remembered him crying because of something she'd never heard of; he missed his friends back home. She could picture in her mind what she said when he told her that; "Fr-eiund? What is that?" and he told her everything he and two boys from America had done together. She missed those days, when she had him to talk to, but those days were long gone.

She watched the airport crew load her luggage into the cargo hold of the airplane from her seat in first class; she had only brought 3 things with her up onto the airplane, although first class passengers were allowed as many things as they could fit into their personal space. She'd brought her trusty whip, just in case anyone annoyed her; a teaset she received from Alfred on his deathbed, depicting several German cultural traditions. The plane began to take off into a gray, cloudy sky as she opened up her third possession she had brought aboard and began reading it to herself over a cup of tea; _The Call of the Wild, Chapter 1..._


	8. Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8

Miles Edgeworth took a sip of his tea as he looked out the window of room 1202 in the high prosecutor's office, into a dark, cloudy sky. He had received word from Franziska that she was returning to America from Germany full time, and he had made preparations for them to eat dinner together later that night. He knew very well she was angry at him for what happened 8 years ago, and he really wanted to make amends. He knew she wouldn't understand why he had left h all those years ago, but he had finally found the truth, thanks to a man he once considered his worst enemy. He heard the clock ring for 7 o'clock p.m, and he grabbed his jacket and his umbrella in case it were to rain as he made his way out the door.

He walked into the dark restuarant lit only by the single candle at each individual table. The host led him to a table for two where Franziska had already been seated, wearing a silver cocktail dress with matching heels. Miles wondered why he didn't dress up for this event, but he let it go as soon as he sat down across from her. "Hello, Franziska." She continued tapping on her shoulder with her arms crossed as she looked down at the table with her eyes closed. "Miles Edgeworth." Miles noted how to choice of silver brought out her hair, but also seemed to almost blend in with her very pale skin. Miles thought pale skin looked better on her, though. "You look lovely this evening." Franziska didn't look up from the way she was seated. "Thank you, Miles Edgeworth." He tried to think of something to say, but couldn't think of anything, so they sat in silence together for a little while. After sitting in silence for a while together, the waiter brought them their meals. Miles tried thinking of a way he could talk to her about what happened 8 years ago, but thought it'd be better to do so away from other people, just the two of them. After they had finished their meals, Miles made an offering. "Sometimes, I go for a walk in the park at nighttime in the city park just a couple of blocks down from here. Do you want to go for a walk with me tonight?" Franziska didn't look up. "Alright. That sounds acceptable."

With that, the two made their way out of the restuarant and walked side by side to the park. Streetlamps illuminated the paths they walked on, while the moonlight illuminated the lake that lay dead center in the park. Miles struggled to bring it up, but he knew what he had to do. "...Franziska, about all those years ago..." Franziska looked up for the first time all night. "What about it? You left me all alone. I will never forget that." Miles let out a sigh. _I was afraid she'd say something of that extent..._ "...Franziska. You need to understand all of the circumstances that lead to my return to America." With that, he told her about how he was looking for what happened to his father and all about the DL-6 case. "...so my papa killed your father and tried framing you for someone else's murder, eh?" Miles looked down in sadness. "Yes, I'm afraid so."

Franziska stopped dead in her tracks, while Miles took a couple of more steps before turning back to face her. "...you know, I'm supposed to be moving into my new office tomorrow afternoon in the prosecutor's building. Maybe you could stop by and we could share a cup of tea?" Edgeworth smiled, as Franziska was usually only entirely hostile towards him and everyone else. "Yes, Franziska. That sounds splendid. If I could get the number of your office, please?" Franziska mulled over it for a second. "I believe they told me 1201." Miles smirked. "If that's the case, it looks like we're neighbors then." Franziska looked towards the ground and hugged herself, whip in hand. "It appears so."

After that, as if someone let the flood gates loose in the sky, rain began pouring down very heavily on the two of them while they were in the park alone. Miles pulled out his umbrella that was only big enough for one. He looked back at Franziska, who hated rain and storms, to see her looking up in the sky with her mouth gaping open, no shelter from the cold, heavy rain. Miles made his way over to her, and held his umbrella over her head to keep her from getting wet. She looked it him in shock. "Miles...you didn't have to do that..." He smirked. "I know, but I wanted to." He walked her over to the sidewalk and waved for a cab. The yellow car pulled over to the sidewalk, and Miles continued to hold his umbrella over Franziska until she had made it safely into the backseat of the cab. He handed the cab driver his fare and made his way back to Franziska in the backseat, who had her window rolled down. "T-thank you, Miles Edgeworth." Edgeworth just closed his eyes and smiled. "Anytime, Franziska. If it storms tonight, don't hesitate to call me, alright?" Franziska just looked back up at him. "O-ok, Miles."

He replied "Ok." She rolled up her window, and when she had done so, Miles saw his reflection. His hair had fallen flat because of the rain, and his clothes had become damp. He put the umbrella back over his head and hit the top of the taxi, signaling the cab driver it was alright to drive. With that, he made his way back to his Fiat 500 back at the restuarant, alone, in the rain with his umbrella over his head, a warm, geniuine smile plastered on his face the whole way there.

Later that rainy night, Miles was back at his high-rise apartment, a towel draped around his shoulders as he watched the nightly news over a cup of tea. His dog, Pesu, had laid down on his feet as to where he couldn't get up. All of a sudden, the sound of thunder clapping shook the entire apartment, causing the dog to sit up rather quickly, but leaving Edgeworth just to pull out his phone in anticipation of Franziska's call. After thunder clapped violently a few more times, his phone finally began to ring, causing the Steel Samurai's theme song echoing throughout the apartment. He picked it up to hear a crying, sobbing voice on the other end. "M-m-Miles! I-I...I need you!" She let out a moan of fear before his response. "Don't worry, Franziska, I'll be right there." As he made his way out to the car, he called his subordinate, Detective Dick Gumshoe, to make sure he got nothing but green lights on the way to the von Karma manor. After the confused detective did so, he inquired as to why Edgeworth needed him to do that, but Edgeworth simply hung up the phone.

After he had made it up to the von Karma manor's doorstep, he didn't have time to knock on the door before Franziska, still in her clothes from earlier that evening, ran out the door and pulled him into the manor, hugging him tightly while crying into the dry clothes he had changed into. He put his arms around her in return and began swaying slowly, as the sound of her crying was the only noise in the vast, dark house. She led him back to her bedroom, were she had set up a sheet that was hanging over her bed and her dresser, creating somewhat of a makeshift roof over their heads. He looked under the sheet to find a thick blanket on the floor with a couple of pillows, his Captain America flashlight he had given to her, and her favorite book, _The Call of the Wild._ He didn't even have to ask what she had wanted to do.

He lay back on the pillows, and she lay against his chest. He opened the book and shined the flashlight on it, and began reading it aloud to her as her sobs began growing softer. After he had read 4 or 5 chapters, she had grown completely silent, asleep against his body. He kissed the top of her head. "Goodnight, Franziska. I love you." And with that, fell asleep himself.


	9. Chapter 9

CHAPTER 9

Franziska awoke the next morning to find herself still in her cocktail dress from last night, under a sheet fortress, having been asleep in Miles' arms. When she realized that she had slept all night in this position, she involuntarily blushed as she felt goosebumps begin to rise all over her body. She slowly got up in an attempt not to wake him as she checked the time on the clock situated on the table on the opposite side of the bed that she and Miles and stayed under. _7 a.m. _Neither her nor Edgeworth had to report to the prosecutor's office until 10, so that gave her time for a good breakfast and a shower. She decided to take a shower first, so that way she could get out of her dress from last night.

She turned on the hot water and the stand-up shower began filling with steam. She washed up as she thought about what Edgeworth must've been thinking about last night as he held her in her sleep. _...did he feel like I did when I woke up being held by him...? _She quickly dismissed the thought as she rinsed the shampoo from her hair. _...No. I'm just a little sister to him, and that's all I ever will be. _She turned off the hot water and wrapped a towel around her body and her head, and opened the door leading back to her bedroom, hoping Miles was still sleeping, so he wouldn't see her like this. She peeked around the bed, under the fortress she had built for them last night, to find him still sleeping. She breathed a sigh of relief as she walked to the other side of the bed to her closet. She opened the door and pulled out one of her work uniforms and got dressed, then she made her way down stairs to the kitchen. She knew her father had kept this place unfurnished, so before she moved here she had the pots and pans shipped over from the von Karma manor in Germany. She began searching through the cabinets to find a pan for her to cook Edgeworth and herself breakfast.

Once she had set the stove top's tempature and cracked the eggs into the pan, she realized she had little experience cooking. She began stirring the eggs around like she had seen the family cook do back in Germany, but she kept growing more worried and insecure about serving Miles' her cooking. She kept on bouncing back and forth whether she should just throw her food out and have Miles pick them up breakfast on the way to the prosecutor's office, or to just see if he'd like it. Once she had made up her mind to throw out the breakfast, she felt someone behind her touch her sides. She was caught off guard and picked up her whip she had set aside and lashed at who would turn out to be Edgeworth.

Edgeworth just caught the whip in his right hand and smirked; "Don't forget, Franziska, I lived with you for 8 years. You've hit me with things like this more than you've hit anyone else." Franziska felt herself blushing in embarrassment. Miles looked at her with confidence; "Here. Let me help you with that. I've lived by myself long enough to learn how to cook a decent breakfast." She moved over with a hint of insecurity and let him take over the reigns of the frying pan. She gazed at him longingly as he cooked the eggs, making it appear as if she was watching him cook instead. He kept on giving her pointers on what to do when cooking these things, unaware of her being fixtated on him instead.

After he had cooked their breakfast, they sat down at the breakfast nook that was exclusive to the American von Karma estate to eat their breakfast with a cup of coffee for Franziska and tea for Edgeworth; she took her coffee with sugar and cream, but her tea plain. She only had coffee for breakfast, and tea for the rest of the day afterwards. Edgeworth piped up at the table between bites; "Before we go to the office today, I need to return to my apartment to change clothes. I'm sure you understand." Franziska tried remaining strong as if he were like everyone else to her; "Hah. I'm sure that all of your clothes are just as unstylish as that foolish outfit you're wearing right now with the cravat." Edgeworth just smiled playfully as he took a sip of his tea; "Correct me if I'm wrong, but I was fairly certain that you're work attire featured a cravat as well. Did it not?" Franziska hugged herself tightly as she felt the redness rushing to her face. "I-I...umm.." Edgeworth just smirked at her embarrassment and took another sip of his tea. _CRACK! _Miles didn't even flinch at the whip striking him.

After they had finished breakfast, they both made their way out to Miles' Fiat. When she sat in the passenger seat, she noticed a Steel Samurai comic situated on where she was about to sit. She finally had some way to get back at him for embarrassing her earlier this morning. As soon as he got into the driver's seat, she held up the comic book. "So, Miles Edgeworth, tell me about how this found it's way into your car, if you can." Miles turned red and quickly snatched it out of her hand. "I-I...urrghh...it's um...it's Gumshoe's. Yes, that's it. It's Gumshoe's." Franziska smirked at his embarrassment like he did at hers earlier as he put the car in gear and backed out of the driveway.

When they arrived at Miles' luxury apartments, he invited Franziska inside to wait as he got ready. He let her inside and told her to make herself at home as he got ready. She took a seat on a wooden chair at his made-for-one dining table and began contemplating her surroundings. As she was looking around, a very large dog made it's way over to her and placed it's head in her lap. She looked down and then threw her arms up in the air in shock at the large, white sheepdog. It seemed to like her, but she could tell this dog was not something she wanted to be friends with, especially after she found it's drool on her clothes. She never wanted to lash an animal with her whip, but she was getting ready to with this disgusting mutt. Edgeworth walked into the room and found her trying not to touch the dog while making her way into the kitchen to wash it's slobber off her clothes with a napkin. Franziska looked up and found him with his arms crossed, leaning on the doorway to his room with a giant cocky smirk on his face. "So, I see you've met Pesu."

Before Franziska could say anything about the dog's disgusting slobber, Edgeworth laughed and made his way over to her and the dog, kneeling down to pet the giant white dog; "Pesu here is my best friend in the whole world. There's not a thing I don't tell him." Franziska just hugged herself, except out of anger and disgust rather than the usual hugging herself out of embarrassment. "That disgusting creature slobbered all over my clothes! He's foul!" Pesu just wagged his tail with even more excitement, and Edgeworth replied with a smile; "Awww, you're going to hurt his feelings. Anyways, I believe we must be making our way to work now, wouldn't you say, Franziska?" Franziska's tone had an icy bite of irritation in it. "Yes, we must."

When they arrived at the office, Edgeworth showed Franziska to her office, carrying her belongings on the way. Franziska made note of this; _I like it when a man shows a gentleman-like personality like this. _He opened the door to a giant office containing empty shelves and a giant desk in the middle. He set her belongings on the desk.

He made arrangements for them to visit a small bistro that he frequented for their lunch break, and left her in her new office. She sat in the rolling chair and turned it to where she was looking out the window that replaced the entire wall behind her desk and thought to herself _Welcome back to America, Franziska..._

It was a very slow morning, as she just put her old case files from her days as a prosecutor in Germany on the empty shelves and a picture frame on the wall containing the von Karma Creed of Perfection, although she had a different perspective on the word perfection now. She then set her tea-maker and tea-set on the long table that was positioned against the giant window behind her desk, and made herself some tea, drinking it in solitude as she waited for lunch time to come. Her train of thought was broken by a large, bumbling detective, barging his way into her office uninvited.

_CRACK! _"Don't you know not to just barge into people's offices uninvited, Scruffy!? Now, what is it you need?" Dick Gumshoe held out a greetings card depicting a small dog on it. "T-the boys at the precinct got you this card as a welcome back gift, s-sir." _CRACK! _"A-ah!"

"Is that all, Scruffy?" Gumshoe's eyes slowly and cluelessly looked around, as if he were searching in his head for what he needed to tell her. He snapped "Oh yeah, pal, I-" _CRACK!_ "Do not address me as 'pal', Scruffy. Please continue."

"I just wanted to tell you that I am going to be working as both yours and Mr. Edgeworth's subordinate, since we've been doubling up at the precinct due to shortages." Franziska closed her eyes and let out a sigh. _CRACK! _"Wh-why'd you hit me for, s-sir?"

"That was an 'ok, that's fine, it's my lunchbreak' lashing, Scruffy. Now I must be on my way." Gumshoe just nodded in compliance as she left to meet Edgeworhth in the parking garage for their lunchbreak.

He drove the car up to a small restuarant called "_The Corner Bistro" _that had two large window panes, allowing for complete vision in over the small restuarant that couldn't have seated more than 20 people at a time.

He showed them to a table and pulled out a chair for her. As soon as they sat down together, it was as if everyone turned to look at the two of them seated together. Franziska grew increasingly nervous, but Edgeworth just seemed cool, calm, and collected. The middle-aged waiter didn't take their order; instead, he just brought Franziska a napkin with an arrow drawn in pencil pointing to the back of the napkin. Once she turned over the napkin, she found a poem written in handwriting that she immediately recognized to be Miles'.

The title of the poem was _The Road Paved in Blood and Tears,_ and it was clear that it was a romantic poem. She looked up at Edgeworth with a tear in her eye; he was clutching his shoulder, seemingly nervous. She stood up, grabbing his hand, pulling him up with her, and stood on the tips of her shoes so she could reach his lips, wrapping her whip around his shoulders, kissing him for the first time. Everyone in the bistro applauded them as Miles put his arms around Franziska's waist.

Their first kiss was even better than what Franziska had been dreaming of for the past 19 years.


	10. Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10

Upon returning to his office, Miles poured himself a cup of tea with a touch of pride. It had taken him a lot of gall to confess his affections for his adopted little sister, especially in that fashion. Of course, when he made those arrangements with the Corner Bistro, he didn't give them that piece of information. He'd always cared for her; but during her last two visits to America, he began caring for her in another way; a way that was incapable for him to feel towards her when she was younger. He took a sip of his tea as he gazed into the bright sun out of the large window in his office. _I'm happy with what I did today. _He heard a knock on his office door and granted entrance.

He turned to see Franziska walking into his office, whip in hand, with the sun through the window shining on a promiscuous smile on her face. He set his tea down so he could put his arms around her, and she returned the favor once she felt his touch. "Hello, Franziska."

"Hello, Miles Edgeworth." Edgeworth looked into the contrast of the oceanic blue in her eyes with the ghost-white skin surrounding them, which was only exacerbated by the sun shining through the large window behind him. She spoke up, breaking his train of thought. "...as you may well know, I am..." He could see her forehead crinkling as she struggled to find the right words. "...unaccustomed to the formalities to a relationship like this..." He knew her father had set her up with men he felt could bear the von Karma name (he likely planned on forcing them to do so), but she never was serious about them and just spent most of the time yelling at them and hitting them with their whip to scare them off. "...but don't couples..live...together?" Miles knew instantly she wanted him at the manor with her. "...I'm sorry, Franziska. I'm not going to live in one of your father's mansions again. There's just too many...bad memories." Franziska looked shocked, and spoke up before she could have possibly had time to think. "But! I can come live with you and Pesos!" Miles let out a rare laugh; "_Pesu._" he corrected her, smiling. She blushed in embarrassment; "...O-of course, Pesu." Miles pondered over this for a second.

_We did just start dating 30 minutes ago...but we've spent most of our lives together, too. It'd be more of an adjustment for her than me. _"...If you want to come live with me and Pesu, you're more than welcome to do so." Franziska looked away for a second, but then looked back up. "Ok, Miles Edgeworth. I'll come live with you and Pesu."

With that, Miles planted a kiss atop her forehead and held her head against his chest. "I'll help you pack your things when we're done here." She looked up at him before pulling away; "Ok. I'll see you when we get off work," and quickly walked out of his office. He had been hoping for a kiss on the cheek at least before she left, but he knew she didn't understand relationships very well just yet, so he let it go.

After they were dismissed from work at 4 o'clock, Miles stopped by Franziska office to find her in there with a certain clumsy detective. _CRACK! _"You..." _CRACK! _"Are..." _CRACK! _"To..."_ CRACK! _"Move..." _CRACK! _"My..." _CRACK! _"Things Tonight!" _CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! _

Edgeworth warmly smiled as Gumshoe let out a small whimper along with a nod of compliance, seemingly too scared to say no, or even to sound out his pain from being lashed with Franziska's whip. He smirked; "Come now, Franziska, don't kill the poor detective with that thing." She blushed as she noticed Edgeworth's prescence; "O-oh. Yes. I'm sorry, detective." Gumshoe looked up, very noticably not knowing what to do with this apology. "U-um...ok?" _CRACK!_

After that rendevous in Franziska's office, Edgeworth paid for Gumshoe's gas fare out to the von Karma manor and held hands with Franziska as they walked out to his car. He could feel how tense she was as he opened the passenger side door to his car for her, and he thought it was kind of cute. She looked out the window up at the sky for the entire ride out to her old house.

They met Gumshoe out at the manor, with the detective bringing his large white truck out there to help transport the belongings. After he and Gumshoe had loaded everything up, Miles couldn't find Franziska anywhere. He looked around the mansion, calling her name, but found nothing.

Finally, as he entered Manfred von Karma's study, he found her sitting on the floor with a shattered picture frame of her father laying in front of her, tears in her eyes. He put his hand on her shoulder and helped her back up. He began to lead her out of the dark study, but she pulled him back and they shared a deep, passionate kiss in the near-black room.

"Do you feel better now?"

Miles saw Franziska give him a smirk; "Yes, I do."


	11. Chapter 11

CHAPTER 11

Later that night, Miles had started cooking the two of them dinner in order to celebrate Franziska's new home. She was looking around the what seemed to be small apartment, but she figured that was because she had only lived in mansions up until that point. She found that, for what seemed to be such a confined space, it had all of the luxuries von Karma manor had provided her with.

She walked into the room her and Edgeworth were to be sharing and contemplated her surroundings; she almost immediately noticed an end table that was nearly identical to the ones back at the manor in Germany, so she decided to look inside the drawer to see if his old journals were in there, but, much to her surprise, there was only a small framed picture of what appeared to be Miles Edgeworth when he was around 6 or 7 years old holding a book up to who appeared to be his father, while the man tousled the young boy's hair. She noticed the sincerity and warmth in the older man's smile, and what appeared to be nothing be love and compassion towards his son was displayed behind his glasses-covered deep brown eyes. Franziska picked up the picture for further inspection; as soon as she did this, she spotted a page that was torn out of one of Miles' journals that was hidden beneath the picture. She set the picture down on the bed beside her to look at the small page that had turned yellow over time.

_Miles, a defense attorney never shows anger, fear, or sadness. They always smile to the very end. I got you this small journal like mine to write in whenever you feel weak. Remember son, I'm always going to be here for you._

_Love, Dad_

_December 5, 2001_

She looked at the picture once more, and this time saw much more of a resemblence in the younger Miles Edgeworth and this man; they both looked so warm and friendly; a stark contrast to the Miles Edgeworth of today; a man who was still just as warm and friendly, but hid it behind a cold and calculating pair of smokey-grey eyes. She heard a voice behind her; "So, you found it, huh?"

She turned to see the man she had been in love with all of her life behind her, clutching his elbow; "...That was my father, Gregory Edgeworth...he was the best defense attorney of his era, and I was going to be just like him one day; a defense attorney who always saves the innocent of their crimes..." She saw a tear fall from his eye. "But after what happened with...your father...I found myself on the opposite side of the courtroom; and the man who succeeded my father as the greatest defense attorney of his time..." She knew about who he was talking about before he even had a chance to speak, and said the name herself. "...was Phoenix Wright." Edgeworth looked up. "...Yes. But I can't complain about the job he's done...I thought him to be my worst enemy a few years back, but I felt lament as soon as he saved me during that trial. He didn't just save me from being wrongfully charged with murder that day; he saved me in a way that's greater than life or death in and of itself; and I hope one day you'll be able to see what that man has shown me, and then you'll be able to understand why I'm willing to trust him and work with him on our cases together."

She knew the days of viewing the defense attorney as her worst enemy were long gone; but she never understood why Miles had befriended a man who was his opponent, and, although her days of accepting nothing short of perfection and forging evidence were over, she still thought her one duty as a prosecutor was to get the defendant a guilty verdict. Although she loved him as much as a human being could possibly fathom, she had thought it lazy when Miles joined in on Wright's cross-examinations of witnesses who appeared to be guilty. She looked at him with a deadly serious look on her face; "I guess I still have a lot to learn about you, Miles Edgeworth."

After this short exchange, he grabbed her hand and led her to his dining table; it was sort of small for two people, as it had been designed for one person; Franziska had brought one of her wooden dining chairs from von Karma manor along with her so there would be enough chairs for both of them. As they began eating, Pesu walked over to Miles at the dinner table, and he threw the large sheepdog some food from his plate, which the dog caught in his mouth and began gnawing on, drooling all over the area next to Franziska where it lay enamoured with the meat his owner had thrown his way. She could tell that Pesu and herself would be at odds living in the same house, as the dog drooled all over her shoes. She became flustered "Miles! Get this dog away from me!" Edgeworth let out a genuine laugh and snapped his fingers, causing the dog to stand up and lay beside him to continue chewing on his meat.

After they had finished, Miles picked up all of the dishes and carried them to the sink to be washed. Franziska remained seated at the dinner table, pondering on whether she should go help him clean the dishes; she had never done dishes before, but she felt bad just sitting at the table alone while he did the dishes. She made up her mind and decided to help Miles with the dishes she approached the sink and stood by him. He passed a soapy dish to her side of the sink; she didn't know what to do with it, though. He picked up on this and quickly pointed towards the small sinkhead that could be pulled out of the sink for washing. She pulled it out of its holder and tried to find out how to get water to come out of it; she turned the water on while it was aimed at Edgeworth, effectively dousing him in water.

At first, he was caught off guard by this, but he regained his composure and smiled back at Franziska, picking up the removable sinkhead on his side and then he sprayed her with it. After that, it had turned into a playful water war.

After they had both effectively drenched themselves and the surrounding area, Miles leaned up against the wall and Franziska laid against his chest, like they had done during the thunderstorm the previous night. They were both soaked, but that didn't bother them. They were both perfectly satisfied with how things had turned out that day. Neither of them wanted to admit it, but that day was the best day of both of their lives.

Pretty soon, they had laid there together in silence long enough that Pesu went into the kitchen and began lapping up the puddles of water that were all over the room. Franziska got up to change into her nightgown and Miles went to get them both towels while she changed. After she got down, Miles handed her a towel, which she draped around her shoulders, and he went into his room to change into his sleepwear. He came out in a white T-shirt with red pajama pants with a towel draped around his shoulders, and Franziska had been wearing her light blue nightgown.

They sat together on the couch, Franziska holding onto Miles' left shoulder, and Pesu jumped into the recliner beside the couch, and Miles turned on the nightly news. There was nothing of interest, but they watched it together anyway, before they decided to go to bed for work the next morning. As they lay down together facing one another, Miles reached up and turned off the lamp beside him. Franziska quickly took note of the children's lamp. "A Steel Samurai lamp, Miles Edgeworth?" Miles quickly got off of the subject; "Goodnight, Franziska."

"Goodnight, Miles Edgeworth."


	12. Chapter 12

CHAPTER 12

Miles awoke the next morning to find Franziska von Karma facing him in bed, fast asleep. He got out of bed and laid out both of their sets of clothes for the day, and went into the kitchen to make his morning cup of tea. Upon the sight of his beloved master, Pesu jumped out of the recliner in the den he always slept in to greet him. Miles was reaching into the cabinet for his two favorite teacups when the dog walked to his side, drooling and practically begging for a pat on the head. In few minutes, the teapot on the stovetop whistled like a train as Franziska sleepily walked her way into the kitchen, whip in tow, rubbing her right eye as she took a seat at the dining table.

Edgeworth spoke up to the seemingly still asleep Franziska; "How do you like your tea, Franziska?" She looked irritated sleepy, but didn't seem to be truly irritated, just tired. She also didn't seem to be able to tell the difference between tea and coffee at the moment; "Light...4 sugars..." She streched out as she let out a long yawn. "...lots of cream." Edgeworth smiled at how cute she looked and how adorable her voice sounded when she was sleepy. "Tea, Franziska." She looked up drowsily. "Oh...ok..." *YAAAAAAAWWWWNNNNN* "...4 sugars...lots of cream." Edgeworth simply complied with her wish, but as he set down her cup of tea, she got up to go get dressed for work, unaware of what was around her. Edgeworth just smiled as she walked away.

After they had both gotten dressed and Franziska had snapped out of her drowsy state, they made their way down to Miles' Fiat together. He opened the door for her as he always did, but as he was making his way to the driver's side of the bright red sports car, the Steel Samurai theme rang out from his phone. He picked up to hear Gumshoe's hysterical babbling, usually indicative of a homicide case he was to prosecute. "Pal! You gotta see this! A defense attorney by the name of Damon Lyght was murdered right in the middle of a trial!" Edgeworth recognized this name; he usually defended the most prominant celebrities in the area, earning him the nickname "The Defense of the Stars." Various rumors had been circulating over his career of how he obtained these clients, but Edgeworth knew to dismiss rumors unless they were proven by evidence. "Do you have any suspects?" Gumshoe got even more hysterical. "BRBRBRBRLBLBLBLB! SIR! We arrested the prosecutor of the case, a young prosecutor from Germany who was overseeing his first trial in America, Klavier Gavin! He's only 17 too, pal! The defense had complete control over the case, and Klavier had purchased them both some coffee during the recess, and the defense attorney died of poisoning right in the middle of the trial!" Edgeworth decided to ask Franziska if she's heard of Klavier Gavin. "Ok, Franziska and I will be right over." Gumshoe stopped him. "F-Fr-Ms. von Karma? Objection! Hold it!" Edgeworth just hung up the phone, disregarding Gumshoe's attempts at sounding like an attorney.

Franziska looked at him as he started the car. "What was that?" He turned the key and drove off. "Have you ever heard of a prosecutor from Germany named Klavier Gavin?" Franziska turned her nose up at the name. "Hmph. He's not a prosecutor, he's a joke. He takes nothing seriously, and he plays in a band and hits on women all night." Franziska began tugging her whip. "He's a disgrace!" Edgeworth replied teasingly; "But he refused to hit on you, huh?" Franziska turned red in the face with anger. "He said he wasn't into 'Frauleins who liked whips and stuff'! I don't even know what he meant by that!" He decided to keep her in the dark on what he actually meant. "Anyway, he's been accused of murder, and you and I are going to the scene of the crime to investigate."

Franziska crossed her arms and thought for a second. "He's an annoying, childish, a disgrace to every honorable prosecutor..." She paused for a moment. "That being said, I do not think him capable of murder."

Edgeworth filled her in on the details on the way to the courthouse; she seemed disgusted that someone had the gall to kill in a sacred court of law. They walked up the courtroom steps to greet a unsurprisingly distracted Dick Gumshoe. _CRACK! _"O-ow!"

"Scruffy! We have no time to waste. Fill us in on everything that happened today." Gumshoe brightened up. "Oh, well, this morning I got up, and went to the bathroom..." _CRACK! _"Eeek!" Edgeworth piped up before Gumshoe's absentmindedness put Franziska in an even worse mood. "Detective, I believe she meant everything about the murder. "Um, well, let me see...oh yeah, sirs! Klavier sent for two cups of coffee for him and the defense during the recess, and the delivery turned them over to the bailiff and he gave them each one. The attorney drank his and then coughed up blood and died right in the middle of a cross-examination of yours truly, pal. Tests on his coffee cup brought up traces of poison." Edgeworth had been visualizing everything that Gumshoe had told him, and when he got to the describing the death, he shuddered at the memories of one of his first cases that resulted in the defendant's suicide right in the middle of court. "...something the matter, Miles?" He kept looking forward; "No, everything's alright."

Gumshoe spoke up; "Klavier's brother is a defense attorney, and a great one at that, but you'll be facing Phoenix Wright again, because the Judge denied Kristoph Gavin the right to defend Klavier due to his relationship with the defendant, citing emotional involvement. Klavier immediately requested Phoenix Wright afterwards, and I heard from the guard at the detention center that Kristoph Gavin was not happy..." _CRACK! _ Franziska shot Gumshoe an intimidating glare; "Prosecutors and defense attorneys are not gossip fodder, detective! Remain professional!"

After they examined what little examination needed to be done at the courthouse, Edgeworthed hatched an idea. "Franziska, I want you to go visit Klavier Gavin, because I am unable to, and get information out of him. I believe hearing his side of the story is vital to our case." Franziska nodded in compliance. He drove her over the detention center and kissed her as she got out of the car.

He felt he needed to say something before she saw Mr. Gavin though. "Franziska...please don't let that man flirt with you."

Franziska just turned towards him as she got out of the car. "Oh, no need to worry, Miles." She kissed him once more. "No need to worry at all."


	13. Chapter 13

CHAPTER 13

Franziska took a seat on the good side of the window seperating the inmates from the visitors, while a young blonde man took the seat on the other side. "Ahh, Frau von Karma, I must say, I have had a lot of female visitors today, but none that I wanted to turn away until now." A condenscending smirk came across his face. "Prosecutors aren't supposed to have any contact with their defendants, and I'm just not into women who like whips, ja?" _CRACK! _Franziska turned red with anger as her whip hit the glass window between them, not even phasing Klavier.

Franziska tugged on her whip as she gritted her next sentence through her teeth; "_I'm not prosecuting your case, and by no means am I here seeking your affection, Klavier Gavin." _Klavier just shot her a smirk back. "Come now, I do attract a large female following...but what's more important is that whether you're prosecuting my case or not, I don't have anything to say to you. Auf Wiedersehen, Frau dominienerde." Franziska just got up a walked out angrily. She found that his insult of calling her "Ms. Dominant" was rather pathetic, but she also thought that there was something she wasn't quite understanding about it, too. She opened the door to Miles' Fiat with vehemence. He picked up on her anger instantly, and thought to inquire about it. "He didn't talk, did he?" Franziska was red with anger still. "No! He didn't!" She felt useless because she couldn't get him to tell her anything. She looked over at Miles to see him giving her that warm, inviting smile that he could only pull off when he meant it; "Don't let him get to you, Franziska. I think his refusal to talk gives him quite an air of suspicion, myself. You helped out a lot. Thank you." After his reassurance and his warm smile, Franziska did feel substantially better. "Anyway, I think we should get some lunch before we continue investigating. Gumshoe called and actually gave me a useful lead, so after we eat, we're going over to Worldwide Studios." Franziska just nodded in agreement as they stopped by the Corner Bistro, Miles' favorite place to go for lunch, and now her's as well. They took a seat at their table from last time and placed their orders at the sandwich a shop; Franziska ordered a turkey, lettuce, tomato and mayonaise on White while Miles ordered a BLT on wheat, with both of them having tea to drink.

After this, they made their way over to the Worldwide Studios' Administration Office, where they had an appointment with the CEO, Mick Vick. They entered his office to find it heavily decorated with luxurious art, priceless sculptures, exotic diamonds, the like, but no Mr. Mick Vick could be found. They decided to look around until he showed up; Franziska found something very interesting on his desk, a card depicting a pink conch shell; the calling card of a notorious assassin, Shelly de Killer.

"My, my...what have we here?" They both turned to find a tall man with broad in a solid brown suit with a black pompadour hairstyle that was graying on the sides, wearing so much jewelry it sparkled in the sunlight; he had a solid black pair of sunglasses on that matched the cane he walked on, and his skin was so tan it appeared he was hispanic. "I can see it now... a writer comes into my office with a screenplay about two young prosecutors in love try to bring down famed assassin and his multi-millionaire client...and succeed in the end." He showed off his hands, causing at least 30 rings on both hands to blind the two prosecutors. "Do you know what I'd would do with that script?" He let out a laugh that bellowed throughout the office, completing his sentence with a tone of condscending laughter throughout it; "I'd throw it out the window; it's too unrealistic for my tastes, wouldn't you say, dearies?" Edgeworth was in shock while Franziska was tugging her whip; "Of course, no one will lay a finger on Mick Vick after people find out everything I'm going to be doing for society. Ohh yes, I rid myself of that pest of a lawyer behind their backs, while apprehending Shelly de Killer in front of their eyes...and who wouldn't want to see movies from the studio owned by the man who captured the most notorious assassin in history? My profits will skyrocket, and I'll be a hero!"

Edgeworth spoke up as Franziska tugged on her whip vehemently; "What reason do you have for doing all of this?" He flashed his rings once more, this time his sunglasses fell down between his nose, revealing a pair of smokey grey eyes, similar to Edgeworth's, except far more evil and twisted. "Blackmail is such a pesky little fly, isn't it? And that defense attorney had the gall to try that with me! Bah!" He slammed his cane on the floor in anger. "I just went along with his requests to defend my actors to make a name for himself, all while waiting for the perfect oppurtunity to strike at this man, which I did just now." He pulled a revolver out from under his suit; "Now, get out of my studios at once." He let his sunglasses fall from his eyes to show his eyes once more. "And if you value your lives, none of this ever happened. Now, out, out with the two of you at once."

A large security guard escorted them back out to Miles' car, and handed them the papers officially giving the two of them a lifetime ban from Worldwide Studios. Franziska spoke up in anger. "We are NOT just going to let him get away with that! Do you hear me, Miles Edgeworth?" He stayed calm. "For now, we are. I have a feeling we're going to have to wait to make our move to bring this man down."

She turned red with anger; "He just confessed to being the mastermind behind everything! You should have made him testify as a witness, and then do what you and Phoenix always do! Break him down on the witness stand!" She realized that, for the first time in her career as a prosecutor, the defendant was not guilty, and she didn't want to see Edgeworth get him a guilty verdict. He replied mellowly; "I believe we will get this man soon. Just not during this trial. I'll just have to see to it that Klavier Gavin is not guilty and no one else is convicted for this murder."

Franziska didn't understand, and she was getting even more angrier by the second; "There are two fatal flaws in your thinking, Miles Edgeworth. 1: Klavier Gavin is a prosecutor, correct? If it is thought you're botching your own case to help another prosecutor, both of you will surely lose your prosecutor's badges. 2: If we are not able to get him now, then when will we get him?"

He didn't flinch; "I'm not botching my own case... I trust in Phoenix Wright that he will be able to win this time...but I do have a feeling we will be able to bring this man down soon..." He put the key into the igntion and started the car, driving them back to the apartment.

As soon as they got back to the apartment, Franziska ran inside, confused, not knowing how to rid the world of this evil man. She heard Edgeworth walk in behind her, and she stopped and hugged herself as she looked down in the floor. He walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her in a way it got both her shoulders and her waist and whispered in her ear; "Don't worry, Franziska. We WILL give that man what he deserves." He kissed her cheek, causing a wave of goosebumps to grow all over Franziska's body. "I love you, Franziska. It's going to be alright. I promise you that."

She had never felt more in love with this man at any point in her life; she trusted him enough to shoow him her weak side, a trust she doubted she'd ever be able to feel for anyone else. "I love you too, Miles Edgeworth." She felt much better about the situation; she knew that he could handle anything the world threw at him. She pulled away from him and turned to face him. She lashed her whip at his wrists, bounding them together like a pair of handcuffs; She promiscuously smirked as she thought to herself _Wow...I knew I was talented with my whip, but I wonder if I'll ever be able to do that again..._ As she lead him back to the bedroom, she saw a single drop of sweat began dripping down his forehead, caught very well off guard by the way this situation was unfolding.

She had realized 3 things that led her to making such a rash decision; She loved this man more than she would ever love anyone else, he loved her just as much, and she felt something else for this man besides love: Trust.

She could trust him enough to allow him to see everything about her; and as she left his hands bound by her whip as she undressed in front of him, knowing full well she was ready for this step in their relationship.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Yeahh, they had sex. I've written romance stories for a long time before I started writing fanfic for this series, and I never include sex scenes in my stories, just the drumroll leading up to intercourse, so, sorry for the disappointment :p There's nothing wrong with sex, I just want all romantically-speaking focus to be on the love and intimacy developing in my story, and describing it would just turn focus onto the erotic part of a relationship, which will take away from what I want to portray. If you want me to write a one-shot sex scene between the two of them and put it on this site, then feel free to ask in a PM or a review or someway, and I will do so if I get enough requests, which won't have to more than two or three, but for now I'm just going to pick up with what happens after the consummation of their relationship in the next chapter. Hope you're enjoying everything so far, and the side trials get very suspenseful if I find a way to word it right.**

**- ghostfacekiller39**


	14. Chapter 14

CHAPTER 14

Miles Edgeworth was laying down in his bed naked, with the woman he loved holding onto his side, sleeping. He didn't expect it to happen this way or for a while, but it did. The sun was shining through his bedroom window; it was only 4:00, so they would just be getting off of work right now if they weren't investigating a murder. He quickly jumped to another subject in order to prevent himself from thinking about the trial tommorow; He'd have to try and prove a man he knew for a fact was innocent guilty, after all. He couldn't help but ponder something though; something that didn't quite add up. _If Shelly de Killer is the assassin, which I do believe him to be, then how did the calling card he always leaves at the scene of the crime to alert the authorities he was the murderer end up in Mr. Vick's office? The courtroom and Worldwide Studios aren't even close together, and I know de Killer didn't stop by to drop it off...Vick must have had an accomplice who was at the courtroom today...but who? I can't piece together anything past that. _

Franziska moved a little without waking up from her nap, as if she had been reading his mind; "Stop thinking and rest...we can work on this together later tonight..." He decided to heed to her advice and kissed the top of her head before dozing off into a small nap himself.

3 hours later, he awoke to find himself alone in bed with the smell of tea lingering from the kitchen. He put on his sleepwear before heading that way, to find Franziska in her nightgown trying her hardest to make them both some tea, but she seemed to be having a lot of difficulty with doing so.

As if she knew what he was about to do, she turned and pointed at him, her voice flustered and her whip in her right hand. "Miles Edgeworth! Don't even think about helping me make this tea! I have this under control!" She made it appear as if she was ready to lash at him if he didn't listen by the way she was holding her whip, but he knew she could hardly hold her whip with her right hand, let alone actually use it with that hand. He just smiled and let her go on with her attempt at making tea, thinking her irritation with her inability to make it right cute. He seated himself at the dining room table, and when she finished, she brought them their tea and sat down to discuss the case he was to be prosecuting the next day.

"...Yes, that is strange. But who do you suppose to be the accomplice?" Edgeworth thought about this for a second. "I haven't the slightest clue; although, the courthouse keeps records of everyone who enters, so we'll have to look into that tommorrow morning." Franziska took a sip of her tea. "Now since we have that settled, we need to focus on how you're going to handle the trial tomorrow. It wouldn't be right to get Mr. Gavin a guilty verdict, no matter how obnoxious he is. And witnesses; you have the Scruffy detective, and the bailiff of the case prepared..." She read the bailiff's name and looked as if someone had hit her in the stomach. "Mike Meekins!? Are you really calling the two most incompetent officers in the country as your witnesses for your case?" Edgeworth shrugged as he took a sip of his tea. "Yes...but only because I know Wright will blow through these two men's testimonies, and although they're both idiots, I highly doubt they'll say something dumb enough to implicate themselves as the murderers." Franziska closed her eyes, lifting her teacup up to her mouth; "...I hope you're right, Miles Edgeworth."

He then pulled out the case file and looked over the notes with her.

_Damon Lyght, 31, was killed by a poisoned cup of coffee in the middle of a trial, purchased by Klavier Gavin, 17, opposing prosecutor, who had also purchased one for himself. Proof of purchase was provided, and motive was believed to be due to the defendant's upstagement during the trial.  
_

_ List of Evidence: Poisoned cup of coffee, proof of Klavier Gavin's purchase of two cups of coffee to be delivered to the courthouse_

_ Profiles:_

_ Damon Lyght, 31, "Defense of the Stars," killed mid-trial by poisoning_

_ Klavier Gavin, 17, young prosecutor from Germany, suspected murderer of Damon Lyght_

_ Mike Meekins, 24, court bailiff, brought victim and defendant coffee_

_ Dick Gumshoe, 33, detective in charge of case_

"...this should be a open and closed case, Miles Edgeworth. There's no other suspects."

Edgeworth shook his head in agreement. "...So it seems."

He didn't like how things were looking for the case tomorrow; an innocent young man with a bright future had nearly no hope of getting acquitted for a crime he didn't commit.


	15. Chapter 15

CHAPTER 15

Franziska and Edgeworth were sitting in the courthouse lobby; She noticed with every passing second Miles grew paler, sickened at what could be at his hands today. She didn't understand what was going on in his head at the time; she just knew he needed someone to be there at his side. She saw his hands trembling everytime he turned the page of the case file as they went over it one more time together. Finally, the bailiff called onto him to start the case, so Franziska just took a seat in the gallery.

As she took her seat, she saw that the Miles Edgeworth that was ghostly and trembling in the courtroom lobby had vanished, and the calm, calculating and confident Miles Edgeworth stood behind the prosecution's bench, across from an equally composed Phoenix Wright at the defense's bench.

The judge made his way up to his chair and made his opening statement, biting his tongue several times in the process. After a little bit, he was finally able to ask his usual questions. "Is the prosecution ready?" Edgeworth gave the standard reply of "The prosecution is ready, your honor." The judge then did the same towards Phoenix, except the defense version.

After Miles' opening statement, he called Detective Gumshoe to the stand, and, as they had hoped, Phoenix absolutely blew apart the detective's weak testimony.

Franziska breathed a sigh of relief when Edgeworth was able to call his next witness to the stand, the bailiff, Mike Meekins.

"Witness, name and occupation, please."

The bailiff gave a salute; "MIKE MEEKINS, COURTROOM BAILIFF, SIR! READY TO TESTIFY, SIR!" Franziska let out a sigh in the gallery. Edgeworth spoke up; "Tell us about what happened the day of the murder."

Meekins shot up another salute and told the court about bringing the coffee to the defendant and the victim. Klavier had given him some cash to run over and get it during recess, and he purchased it and brought it over.

OBJECTION!

Phoenix Wright was glowing with confidence. "If this testimony is true, than it should clear my client of any suspicion..." Edgeworth didn't flinch at this, as he was secretly hoping for this outcome. "...and cast all suspicion on to the man on the witness stand, Mike Meekins!"

Franziska flinched and Edgeworth slammed his hand on his desk. She knew he was not prepared for that outburst on Wright's part. The trial continued, Edgeworth unable to prove Meekins' innocence. In the end, Mike Meekins was charged with the murder of Damon Lyght.

The stand in Bailiff carried Meekins' away on his shoulder, with the disgraced officer screaming in tears his innocence, being carried away to his death for something he had no involvement in. As the courtroom dispersed into the lobby, Edgeworth remained at the prosecutor's bench, head buried into his hands in despair. Franziska approached the distressed man she loved, and told him to wait right there, kissing him on the cheek as she went to go get the defense team who was up to their usual post case chatter in the lobby.

As she approached, she heard Klavier claiming that he hoped to see Wright in court one day, and saw Pearl Fey tugging on Phoenix's sleeve, begging for change to go the vending machine. She hit Phoenix with her whip.

"Phoenix Wright! I demand you and everyone here follow me at once!" She was furious. Pearl continued tugging at Phoenix's sleeve, and Phoenix just became irate and began yelling. "Alright, Pearl! Here's the change! Now go get your snack and meet me in the courtroom."

Pearl had a tear in her eye. "...s-sorry, Mr. Nick..." She turned and ran towards the vending machine. "P-pearls, wait..." _CRACK! _"How dare you make a little girl cry, Phoenix Wright!" She dragged him to Edgeworth, who was still in the same postition he was in earlier.

Franziska softly prodded his shoulder. "Miles...explain the truth behind the case today to Mr. Wright and his friends." Edgeworth looked up, tears in his eyes and ghost pale skin. "You...put an innocent man to death today, Wright."

Phoenix jumped back in shock, "Wh-what do you mean!?" Edgeworth explained everything he and Franziska had found out to him, Phoenix clearly in despair over what he had done.

As Phoenix began stammering, his phone rang; it was a private number. He picked it up unsuredly;

"H-Hello?"

An eery voice came on through the other line; a voice that shot chills down both Edgeworth's and Wright's spines...

"Hello, Mr. Wright. It's sad we have to meet again under these circumstances..." _Shelly de Killer. _

"What do you want?" Phoenix's tone was a quiet yell of desparation.

De Killer let out a sinister chuckle. "...it appears I am in need of your services, Phoenix Wright. I do believe I am soon to be arrested...and it'd be in your best interest to assist an old pal in his time of need, wouldn't you agree?"

Phoenix was red in the face; "What makes you think I'd help you?"

After that, a small voice came over the other line; "Mr. Nick! Hellllpppp!"

Everyone in the entire party was stunned, and de Killer spoke up; "...3 days to give me my acquittal, Mr. Wright. If not, she dies. You'll be having no contact with her, as she is to be held at one of my client's houses while I'm at the detention center, and I can't reveal their identity to you, can I? Well, I guess I'll be seeing you later this evening, to discuss my trial next week. My my, I've heard they've been making a ton of preparations for my appearance. Well, ciao, old friend." The tone flatlined on the other line.

Today wasn't a good day for anyone, it seemed.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: I would particularly like getting reviews for this chapter, because I thought it to be a great plot twist, but I'm unsure of how I worded it, and I'm unable to find a better way of putting it into perspective. I haven't really ventured into suspense stuff like this ever, so it'd be great to know how I did on my first time trying to create that element in a story. **


	16. Chapter 16

CHAPTER 16

Later that night, Miles Edgeworth lay in bed unable to sleep. Franziska lay sleeping to his right, her hand on his chest as she lightly breathed in her slumber. Miles looked over at her; when most people thought of her, they didn't think of innocence, but he knew she only had a child-like understanding when it came to most adult matters outside of prosecuting. He was shocked about how much she knew about how to act in a relationship; it was like she'd been dreaming of one like this all of her life.

He turned to the clock beside him on his end-table; _4 am. _He slowly got out of bed as to not wake up Franziska and made some microwave tea; it wasn't nearly as good as the tea he liked to drink out of a teapot, but it was quieter, so there wasn't any risk of waking up Franziska while she was sleeping. He sat down with his journal and a cup of tea; he couldn't write about what had happened in court; Mike Meekins, an innocent man sent to be executed for a murder he didn't commit, a 9-year old girl getting kidnapped for ransom. It hadn't been a good day for anyone; he just wrote a story in his journal instead.

A couple of hours later, Franziska got up. He liked her in the mornings, although it was very clear she wasn't a morning person. He got up to fix her a cup of real tea along with one of his, and she spoke up; "Miles...let's take today off. Yesterday...was a little too much." he looked over at her with a smile, fully expecting to see her dazed and confused, as she was every morning; his smile turned into a nod of understanding as he saw her eyes wide open along with a serious expression plastered on her face. He nodded. "Ok. I'll call the cheif prosecutor after our tea to let him know that we won't be coming in today." She tried smiling at him, but it wasn't sincere; he could tell she was thinking the same thing as he was; about Pearl and Mike Meekins, if they were alright, and about Phoenix Wright having to defend Shelly de Killer, a man who everyone knew was guilty, but if he didn't get him a complete acquittal, a 9-year old girl was to lose her life.

He called the cheif prosecutor and informed him of their plans to take the day off, which he agreed to allow them to do so. After he had hung up the phone, the teapot began to whistle on the stove, and Miles picked it up in order to pour Franiziska and himself a cup for each of them and took a seat across from her at the table.

He decided he needed to say something about yesterday. "Franziska...yesterday is behind us, and in a few days we might have to re-live it..." She looked down into her teacup as he continued. "But today...I think we shouldn't dwell on what happened...it..." Miles still wasn't use to showing his caring side to anyone, and although he felt safe showing it to her, he still had trouble doing so sometimes. "We can spend the day together until we have to start investigating, ok?" Franziska seemed to like this idea.

They decided to remain in their sleepwear all day, not to leave the apartment for anything. It was to be a strictly Rest & Relaxation day to cope with the stresses caused by yesterday's trial. After they had finished their tea, Miles opened the blinds covering the windows, allowing the morning sun to shine through the windows and he made his way over to the couch and took a seat with Franziska leaning up against him as he tried finding them a movie to to watch together on the premium movie channels he had ordered. After he had found them a movie to watch, Pesu awoke from his deep slumber and saw Franziska leaning against Miles' chest with his legs around her, while he lean against a pillow that seperated his head from the hard arm rest on the couch. The large dog quickly jumped out of his recliner to jump on the couch and lay on Franziska the way she was laying on Miles.

Edgeworth saw this coming, but didn't bother to stop it for fun's sake. The dog jumped on Franiska and began drooling on her nightgown. She gasped as the large dog jumped on top of her. "M-Miles! Get this filthy creature off of me!"

He laughed as he snapped his fingers and pointed towards the recliner, signaling the dog to go sit in it. Before the dog got up, he licked Franziska on the face, leaving a giant trail of slobber on her cheek. She was disgusted; "Miles...I think that smelly, slobbery dog is just out to annoy me in any way it can!" Miles laughed again. "Pesu is probably just jealous because you get more attention than him now..." He smirked at her when she turned to look up at him with an unsatisfied look on her face. "...or he just thinks you're cute, Franziska...and who can blame the poor dog?" She blushed as they shifted their attention back to the movie. It was an older film from the mid 90's; just a little younger than Edgeworth, and a little bit older than Franziska; called _Bottle Rocket. _It was an independent film that launched the acting careers of two brothers, and Miles had always enjoyed independent films, as he felt they had a certain sense of merit and depth that blockbusters couldn't provide. Franziska had never seen this movie before, but she seemed to like it.

Mid-way through the movie, Franziska had fallen asleep on his chest. He noticed this when all of her weight, albeit it wasn't that much, came down on his chest. She had been laying to where he couldn't feel her completely, and he deducted it was probably out of nervousness. After he could feel all of her laying against his chest while she was relaxed, he decided he liked the way it felt, and ran his fingers through her hair gently as to not wake her up before kissing the top of her head and turning his attention back to the movie.

She awoke with a strech as soon as the credits started rolling, and let out a long yawn. "Miles...let's go out for lunch, ok?" He just laughed it off. "It's only 10 o'clock, Franziska. Brunch, ok, but it's a bit early for lunch." She was too tired to blush at his combination of flirting and teasing. "Ok, let's get dressed and go..." She yawned once more and fell asleep on top of him again. He couldn't help but smile at this; "I guess we will be going out for lunch then, Franziska."

He found some more movies to watch while she continued her nap. She awoke again around noon with another strech and another yawn. She rolled around on her chest and looked up at him. "Hi, Miles Edgeworth." He smiled back at her. "Hey, Franziska."

"Miles...I want you to know something..." He prepared himself for anything she could throw at him. "...I've loved you since the first day I met you." He smiled back down at her. "I know, Franziska." With that, she pulled on his shirt collar, also pulling herself closer to his face in the process, and they kissed.

After they were done, Edgeworth spoke up. "So...what do you want to do for lunch?"


	17. Chapter 17

CHAPTER 17

The sound of Franziska's heels hitting the sidewalk annoyed her; she didn't plan on leaving the apartment today, but Miles insisted that they go for a walk and get their lunch while they were out. Since his favorite lunch stop wasn't in walking distance, they decided to settle for a small restuarant on the side of the city park closest to his apartment. She held his hand gently as they walked through the restuarant doors.

They ordered their food to go; Miles got a club sandwich while Franziska got a small salad. They walked into the park to find a bench to eat their food together. Miles seemed to be enjoying his sandwich, and Franziska just took small bites of her salad while looking up into the sun-filled blue sky, watching birds fly around the trees up ahead. Miles was doing to same thing. Franziska thought to herself quietly during this moment of observation; _Today is such a beautiful day. It's been great so f- _She felt something drop onto her head. _SPLAT! _

She heard Miles' laughter as she wiped something that was dripping down her forehead off with her leather glove-clad hand; The gag-reflex kicked in as she turned red with embarrassment. A bird had done it's business, an it had fallen on her head. She looked at her food; Miles took his napkin and wiped it off of her, repeating his motions until it was all gone. She felt so foolish that she didn't want to look up from her salad. After he was done cleaning her up, he gently picked her head up with his index finger and then proceeded to attempt to tell her something comforting; "You know, Franziska, most people wouldn't be able to tell this about you unless they spent enough time with you, but you're a very awkward person..." _Gee. You sure have a way with words, don't you? _"...and that's one of my favorite things about you. It's really...cute." She blushed once again, except this was a pinker shade of flattery that offset her pale skin.

After they finished eating, they walked around the park together for a little bit. They were holding hands and reminiscing over the days of von Karma manor when a frisbee smacked into the side of Franziska's head. When she had thought things couldn't get any worse, a goofy man in an orange jacket ran up to get his frisbee. After he picked up his frisbee and looked up to apologize, a big, foolish grin came over his face. "Yo! Edgey! Franzy! What's up?" _CRACK! _Larry Butz let out a yelp of pain, and then he motioned towards Miles for a high-five. "Edgey! Gettin' some! Alright! You always were popular with..." Edgeworth just glared at him, simultaneously shooting down his gesture for a high-five, while Franziska hit him with her whip. _CRACK! _"THE LAAAAADDDDDIIIIESS!"

Larry began rubbing his shoulder in pain. "W-well, a-anyway, I'm here having a picnic with my new girlfriend." His face brightened up. "I really think she's the one..." Edgeworth interrupted him. "...You've said that about every girl you've dated since your very first romance, Larry." Larry blushed and began to yell, leaving Edgeworth and Franziska in awe of his foolishness, rather than making them feel bad, like he hoped. "OH! SURE! PICK ON POOR LARRY BUTZ! SEE IF YOU TWO GET AN INVITATION TO MY WEDDING IN HAWAII, PALS! EVERYONE HATES ME! I"M USELESS, AREN'T I!?"

Edgeworth just let out a sigh. "...I'm sorry you feel that way, Larry. Now, Franziska and I must be going." They turned to leave and Larry yelled out once more. "W-WAIT!" They turned back around, Edgeworth maintaining his composure while Franziska couldn't hide a scowl of irritation and tranferred her rolled up whip from her right hand into her left hand to prepare to use it. "I was thinking, since, you know, you two are together, and I'm with my one true love, maybe the four of us could..." Edgeworth spoke up. "No."

Larry began emotionally yelling again, as if he were performing in a Broadway play. "YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT I'M GOING TO SAY!" _CRACK! _Both Edgeworth and Franziska spoke in unison with their response this time. "No." With that, they walked away from the scene, because Larry was drawing the attention of everyone in the park with his outbursts now.

Franziska had a searing question on her mind after this encounter; "Miles, how did you ever become friends with that man? I mean, Mr. Wright is understandable, but HIM? I can't use the word 'fool' enough when describing that man." Edgeworth just sighed. "I wonder that myself, but he's still my friend..." He looked down towards her with warm eyes and a smirk. "...even if I try to avoid him by any means necessary." This made Franziska smile. After this brief exchange, his cell phone began to ring, echoing the Steel Samurai theme throughout the park. He picked it up.

"Miles Edgeworth speaking."

Franziska heard of voice on the other line screaming; "EDGEY! AFTER ALL WE'VE BEEN THROUGH TOGETHER! YOU JUST..." *click*

After he hung up, the Steel Samurai theme began playing once more, seemingly even louder. Both Edgeworth and Franziska were getting irritated by this man now.

He picked up his cell phone once more; "I swear, if you don't stop calling this number, I'm going to..."

It wasn't Larry Butz on the other line; "O-oh...sorry, Miles...I just needed your help with something...can you stop by my office later, if you have the time?"

Edgeworth told his old friend with utmost confidence "Yes, Franziska and I will start heading over there immediately."

Franziska heard a strained, forced laughter on the other end of the line. "You and Franziska sure do spend a lot of time together now..."

Edgeworth smiled and let out a cheerful chuckle; "Yes, I suppose we do. We'll be over there as fast as we can, alright?" The voice on the other line said alright and Edgeworth hung up the phone, and made haste to his destination, pulling Franziska along with him.

She didn't understand everything that was happening right now; "Miles, what is the meaning of all this?" He kept looking forward. "That was Phoenix Wright. He sounded troubled, and we don't have a car to get to his offices, so we're just going to have to walk there." Franziska nodded in understandment and left with him towards Wright & Co. Law Offices.

When they arrived, they opened the door to a dark room, with the only light to be found eminating from Phoenix's computer. Franziska didn't see his assistant, Maya Fey, anywhere.

Edgeworth must've noticed this too. "Hello, Phoenix. Where's Maya?" Phoenix looked up with a false smile. "Oh, she just needed to be alone. I let her into Mia's old office to think."

Even though she didn't know how to deal with people very well, Franziska knew that Phoenix was greatly troubled...more troubled than she'd seen him to ever be.

He turned his attention to her. "Franziska, if you want to go talk to Maya, that'd be great. I think she needs some help right now..." His expression grew serious. "...and please leave your whip here with me." She didn't like going anywhere without her whip; but she obliged none-the-less.

She opened a door that read_ Mia Fey, Attorney at Law, _to find the young acolyte crying beside a chalk outline in a dark room. She knew that Maya had heard her come in, but didn't give her any of her attention. Franziska didn't know what to do with this situation; she didn't talk to people about their feelings, especially who she generally considered to be her enemy, or at least her enemies' allies. She walked over to the spirit-medium and sat down beside her. Maya turned and jumped when she saw who had taken a seat beside her. "Ms. von Karma...I'm just not in the mood for your shallow ramblings, ok? And I really, really don't want to get hit with your whip right now..." Franziska tried thinking of how to handle this; _she's in a lot of trouble right now..._

She tried smiling at her like she did Edgeworth, but it apparently wasn't as good, and didn't articulate what she wanted to say correctly. "...I'm just here to...help? Maya Fey?"

Maya just kept looking at the chalk outline. "That wasn't very comforting, Ms. von Karma..." Franziska jumped back. "I-I'm sorry...I haven't done this before..."

Maya decided to humor her attempt at consolation; "You know...do you remember when I was kidnapped by de Killer? I was 18...Pearly is only 9...do you think she will make it, Franziska?"

Franziska put her hand on Maya's shoulder. "I'm sure...Miles and Phoenix Wright will find a way to save her...like they saved you last time."

Maya spoke up once more; "Why don't you call Mr. Edgeworth by his full name like you do everyone else? ..._do you like him or something?"_

Franziska jumped back; "Y-yes well, we're...together now."

Maya looked up at Franziska with something she hadn't displayed yet; hope. "Franziska...we're both 19, right?" Franziska nodded yes. "And Mr. Edgeworth and Nick are both 26, right?" Franziska nodded in agreement once more. "Have you been in love with Mr. Edgeworth since the first time you saw him?"

Franziska knew exactly how to answer this; "Yes...I have..."

Maya smiled through her tears; "I think we have more in common than we realized, Franziska...except you have Mr. Edgeworth, and I have Nick...and you're with Mr. Edgeworth, and I don't think Nick knows I'm in love with him yet...and I don't think he'll ever love me back anyway..."

Franziska was finally begininning to relate; "You know, Maya Fey, I've known Miles for 17 years...and I've been in love with him since I could remember knowing him...but all I was to him was just a little sister for most of that time. I had no hope of ever having him feel about me the way I felt about him...until he confessed his feelings for me...and I never thougth that something like that would happen...so never give up hope, ok, Maya Fey? I think things like this have a way of working out in the end."

Maya looked up with both a tear and a twinkle in her eye at Franziska; "Thank you..." and gave her a hug. She jumped back at first, never being this physically close to anyone but Miles; but after a bit, she hugged back, realizing she had just made a new friend; something she hadn't ever known in her life; a friendship. It hadn't ever been platonic between her and Miles; it was always her being in love with him, and until recently, she was his adopted little sister. She couldn't help but smile at this realization of a newfound friendship as she patted the crying acolyte on the shoulder.


	18. Chapter 18

CHAPTER 18

Miles Edgeworth watched as Franziska unsuredly entered Mia Fey's old law offices. After she had closed the door behind her, Phoenix spoke up; "I haven't changed it all since the day she was killed...as a memorial, you know?" Edgeworth nodded in understanding. "Yes. I see." The light from his computer shown on his face to reveal bloodshot eyes hiding a false smile.

He spoke up again; "Edgeworth...I'm defending a man that not only I know, but everyone else knows is a killer...but if I don't get him an acquittal...Pearl dies." He began crying and put his head on his desk. "I just can't do it...there's no way we can save Pearl...I can't get this man an acquittal...even if I wanted to!" As soon as he had put his head on his desk, Miles noticed something in the dark, unilluminated corner of his desk rattle; it sounded like a pill bottle. He reached over and picked it up, reading the label; _Atroquinine._

"Wright...what is this?" He looked up for a second to see what the prosecutor was talking about. After seeing what he had had found, Wright put his head back down. "Edgeworth...I just can't do this...it's too much for me to bear..." Edgeworth slammed his hand on Wright's desk. "Phoenix Wright, this is a coward's way out. I know you; you're not weak like this. You've always fought to the very end; no matter how bleak it looked. You can do this; I'm prosecuting this case, and we will find a way, just like we always do." Phoenix didn't look back up and continued sobbing into his arms. "Thanks for trying, Edgeworth...but it's not really helping. This case is beyond hopeless; and if I don't..." Edgeworth slammed his hand on Phoenix's desk once more and gritted through his teeth; "_Don't be so weak; it's only hopeless if you say it is. I've seen you get an acquittal on cases far more hopeless than this one...and that little girl is depending on you." _He cleared his throat and continued. "Just think...if you choose death as an escape, you won't be the only one who dies. That little girl is counting on you to save her life; and if you kill yourself, she'll become expendable, and do you know what people like de Killer do with expendable people?"

Phoenix looked up meekly; "Y-yes...yes I do." Edgeworth continued on; "So you know what you must do now, I hope."

"Y-yeahh." Phoenix looked up with a sense of strength; "I see what you're getting at."

Edgeworth nodded back. "Good." With that, Franziska and Maya walked out of Mia's old office together. Maya was jubiliant, which caught both men off guard, but even more surprising is the fact Franziska was laughing with her, as if they had been best friends their entire lives.

"I see you cheered Maya up, Franziska." Edgeworth said with a hint of happiness at the new friendship. She replied with a smile; albeit, a smarmy one, but it wasn't intentional, it was inherited. "I think I did a good job." She picked her whip up off of Wright's desk. Maya spoke up; "Hey, Nick! Maybe, you, me, Franzy and Mr. Edgeworth could all go get a hamburger later! She's never had one! Can you believe that!?" Phoenix pondered his answer; Edgeworth knew what he was thinking; _If he says yes, he'll look bad, but if he says no, he'll be lying._

Wright responded without answering the question; "If it's alright with Edgeworth and Ms. von Karma, then I don't see why we shouldn't..."

Maya jumped up with joy. "Alright! Did you hear that, Franzy? You're going to get a hamburger tonight! You're going to love it! We go to this place all the time. So much, they have a special burger called the 'Mayaburger', and it's what I order everytime we go. Let's see...it has ketchup..." Edgeworth tuned her out and looked back at Wright; "Wright...don't forget what I told you just now. I'll see you tonight for dinner, ok?"

"Ok."

After Maya got done rambling about how much she liked hamburgers to Franziska, the two prosecutors left Wright & Co. Law Offices.

"So...'Franzy'...I see you made a new friend?" She replied with a smile; "Yes I did. She's...strange...but I think I can make due."

They shared a laugh at this as they both went back to the apartment to prepare for dinner that night; although he seemed to be able to pick himself back up, He still worried about his old friend.

After those thoughts of worrying left his mind, he could only think about one other thing; How he was going to bring de Killer and Mick Vick down during this trial.


	19. Chapter 19

CHAPTER 19

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: I know I said daily updating, but I didn't yesterday. As I felt I was losing touch with some of the characters, I took the day off to replay the first Ace Attorney game. I apologize for any inconvience. Luckily, I felt I gained some more insight into the characters, Miles Edgeworth in particular, so I wrote this up last night, and I'm halfway through the chapter after this one that takes place Edgeworth-centric, which picks up were this one leaves off and then goes into the court trial. Ohh, it was a tough couple of chapters to write, too. Really tough :(**

Franziska lay herself down in bed beside Miles that night; the hamburgers they had eaten for their dinner earlier that night with Maya and Phoenix Wright didn't exactly live up to Maya's description. In fact, she thought they were absolutely horrible. _It was just a greasy slab of meat between two pieces of bread..._she thought to herself. After a while, she went to sleep.

When she woke up the next morning around 5 a.m., she found Miles seemingly distressed, looking over the case files in his nightwear while drinking a cup of tea. She walked up beside him and put her hand on his shoulder. "Good Morning, Miles. Is there something troubling you?" He looked up at her; "No. I'm just reading up on de Killer's case; they rescheduled it for tomorrow."

She grew serious; "Oh, I see." She sat down with him and helped him prepare his case. As they went over the case file together, she kept losing focus, gazing into those serious, charcoal gray eyes. Feelings of love overwhelmed her; she spoke before she thought. "Miles Edgeworth...let's get married."

He quickly looked up in shock, eyes widened, absolutely flabbergasted at her proposal. Those were the last things he had expected to hear her say at that moment. She noticed him struggling to find his words; "I-I...I...uh..."

Franziska had always been one to always be logical and sane with her decision making; she rarely ever acted on impulse such as this. As he continued stuttering, she stood up out of her chair and made her way towards him; she was relatively short in nature, especially when standing next to him, so she didn't have to lean down very far in order to plant a deep, passionate kiss on his lips in order to help him make his decision; after this, she realized that she was completely serious about marrying this man, that her rash decision was one that she had always wanted.

"Y-you're not joking..." He looked down for a second. She could read his thoughts; he didn't know what to do. "F-Franziska..." She sat in his lap at the dinner table and wrapped her arms around his shoulders; usually, she wrapped her whip around his shoulders, as she found it more convienent and because she didn't harm him with it while doing so, but she had left it on her side of the table when she got up to make her way over to him.

"M-Miles E-Edgeworth..." She found herself trembling, trying to get her next words out; "E-ever since I met you...I k-knew I was in love with you. N-Nineteen years, Miles E-Edgeworth..." Her voice was growing shakier with every word. "M-Miles E-Edgeworth...I-I w-want to m-m-marry y-you..." Once she had finished, she realized that she could have worded that so much better. Fear overtook her as she awaited his response. His face showed no emotion as he stared into the distance, at nothing. She knew when his face read that, he was overtaken by emotion. All of a sudden, he looked to the other side of the floor, away from her, and grabbed on to his elbow.

"Franziska...I just don't think I'm ready...I'm sorry..." Warm tears began to fill her eyes. "Y-You don't m-mean th-that, d-do y-you?"

He looked up with a dead serious expression in his smokey gray eyes. "I'm afraid I do, Franziska."

Tears began rolling down her eyes uncontrollably; she grabbed her whip and just began running. As she ran out the door, Miles stood up and yelled "Franziska, wait!" But she didn't listen, she just left.

She had found herself seated in the darkest corner of the parking garage under Miles' apartment complex. He had come down with a flashlight looking for her, but she didn't let it be known as to where she was. She sat there in silence, only allowing the occasional sniffle to sound out. Most people would be thinking of themselves as foolish for what had happened back there, but she didn't allow herself to think. She just sat in mental silence, whip in her left hand, arms wrapped around her knees while she was still in her nightgown. She was in somewhat of a ball position, with her head buried into her knees, so the end of her nightgown would soke up her tears.

She felt as if she wouldn't mind dying right then and there.


	20. Chapter 20

CHAPTER 20

A bead of sweat dropped down Miles Edgeworth's forehead as he shined his flashlight up and down the hallways of his apartment building. He felt bad for what had happened; he loved her enough to marry her, he just didn't think they had been in a relationship long enough in order to take that step; _Was I wrong for thinking that?_ Feelings of uneasiness continued creeping over him, and he let out a shudder as he thought of how shaky her voice was during her proposal.

He decided to give the parking garage another look; he had checked everywhere but the elevators by this point. He wasn't sure if he was prepared to check the apartment's elevators, but he knew it was a possibility, so he began preparing himself in case the time were to come.

He walked into the parking garage once more, surveying the vast, dark area with his flashlight; since it was still early in the morning, his neighbor's cars have yet to leave from their designated parking space. He jumped at the sound of a sob in the corner farthest from where he was searching, and immediately went over to examine what he had heard.

He shined his flashlight into the dark corner as he approached it; he found Franziska with her head buried into her knees, crying. As he shined to light towards her direction, she looked up, blocking the light with her hand and revealing a pair of bloodshot, teary eyes along with her revelation. She was still in her nightgown, barefoot, and her whip lay beside her. As he approached to take a seat beside her, she moved her whip in front of her so he could sit where it lay at her side. He sat down and put his hand on her shoulder as she cried; her sobbing had gone silent now, but he could still see the pain in her eyes as she looked towards the ground in front of her.

"Franziska...I love you." He said in his softest voice possible. She didn't look his way. "I-I know...I l-love you, too, Miles E-Edgeworth."

He was trying to think of what to say when she spoke up; "M-Miles E-Edgeworth...we have known e-each other almost a-all of our lives..."

He hushed her; "Ssshhhh. One day, I think it will happen, Franziska. I honestly do."

She looked at him with teary eyes, the blue-hue of them brought out by the redness surrounding them; the sun was coming up, and it was no longer near-pitch black in the parking garage; it had settled for a dusty gray darkness that early morning time often brought the world. "If y-you think that...than why w-won't you marry me?" To someone who didn't know her better, it would appear as if she was a small, spoiled child crying because she didn't get what she felt like she deserved, but Miles knew her better; she had always leaned on him, she needed him there with her at all times to feel safe with everything around her; and who could blame her? Manfred von Karma was extremely apathetic towards the two of them, and she hardly conversed with the servants, due to the fact her father always had them working; he knew she liked Alfred and the old gardening lady, but they were both dead now. She had never had any friends, and it wasn't even her fault; she hardly ever got to leave the premises of von Karma manor as a child, and although she had recently made a new friend in Maya Fey, she probably wasn't close enough to her yet in order to add her to the list; a list that now only had one name: _Miles Edgeworth._ He was all she had left in the world, and she was scared he'd be gone, too.

He reached over with his dominant right hand in order to wipe a tear out of her eye; "Franziska...I don't..." He wasn't sure if he was doing the right thing; his rationality, logic, and common sense all were telling him not to walk into a marriage with someone he had only been in a intimate relationship with for a little under a week; but something inside of him shot down his rational thinking when he saw her tear rolling down his right index finger. _She's...hurt. She doesn't show her feelings around anyone, she is always professional; she never..._ before he could finish his thought, a stunning realization came over him; since they were little, she had always shown her true feelings around him; something she never did for anyone else, and since they entered a relationship with one another, he had done the same around her; he let his guard down.

He clinched his side, but at the same time spoke with the utmost confidence and belief in his words; "Franziska von Karma...I'll marry you, if your offer is still on the table..." She sniffled; "...y-you're telling the t-truth, right? a-and y-your marrying me b-because y-you love me...r-right?"

He smiled back at her; it seemed to be a cocky, snide smirk, but in reality, is was a warm, honest, confident smile, and she picked this up. "Yes. Yes I am."

With that, her tears went away over time, and she rested her head on his shoulder; after that, they sat in that same position, in that same place, with only their sleeping clothes on, and they watched the apartment's residents get in their cars and drive out of the garage to go to work one by one, in a silence that could only be described as perfect. It was as if, although neither of them wanted to say this to break the silence, their thoughts were entwined for the hours they sat in that garage together without speaking, watching their neighbors leave to start their day, as the sun came up, revealing a blue sky, granting them with full visibility of their surroundings; it was as if they told each other everything they wanted to talk about without speaking; and, for the first time in a long while, both of them felt completely at ease, as if nothing bad had ever happened in the cold, dark world around them; it was a moment that neither of them would ever forget.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: I hope you see why I felt I had lost touch with some of the characters, as I think I might have portrayed them OOC a bit too much more than I had hoped for; Franziska, not so much, as I have been trying to create a deeper backstory for her than Capcom left us with; I feel they could've done a much better job with her story when I look at it, probably about the same as they did with Edgeworth. Not Godot, though. That was too badass for anyone to be able to create over and over again. Back on topic: I think I've done a good job with her part, but I felt I was losing touch with some of the other characters, namely Edgeworth, but others, notably Phoenix as well; so I took yesterday off writing and tried to reacquaint myself with them; I can say for certain that I'm ready to write the 2nd trial; but don't expect it in the next chapter. Also, it's going to be a full 3 day trial due to the circumstances that surround it, so I can drag out this story even longer, because, let's face it, I don't want to end this work anytime soon. So, I hope you have a greater understanding as to why I'm portraying the characters this way. Oh, and please review! It's irritating putting this much work into to something without knowing what other people are thinking, and if you think I can improve on something, don't hesitate to tell me, I'll appreciate the feedback. Alright, thanks a ton!  
**

**-ghostfacekiller39 **


	21. Chapter 21

CHAPTER 21

After a while, they had made their way back into the apartment. They walked in the find Pesu waiting for them, slobbering all over the place. The large dog walked right up to Franziska and began drooling on her; "M-Miles Edgeworth! Does this dog ever drool on anyone besides me?" He let out a hearty laugh. "No." He didn't add anything after that, it was just a no.

She sneered at the large, white dog; by no means did she like this revolting creature; she merely dealt with it because of Miles' affection towards it. Edgeworth snapped his fingers, signaling the large dog to go over to him. With that, she made her way towards the dinner table to look over the binder containing notes and information for tomorrow's case; she immediately noticed how he had been able to subpeona Mick Vick; she found this intriguing.

"How did you..." He was making tea; he poured his cup and took a sip before he spoke. "He's the one who stabbed de Killer in the back and got him arrested, and de Killer doesn't even know it was his own client who was responsible for his arrest. I'm hoping Wright can blow this guy's testimony apart; he's a really good liar, but I was able to subpeona him due to his involvement in the arrest. When de Killer sees this man, his own client, testifying against him, betraying him..." Franziska didn't even need him to finish his sentence before she understood what he meant.

"...I see. It'll end up like what happened with Matt Engarde 2 years ago, except with the assassin as the defendant and the client as the witness." He tapped his forehead in thought. "Precisely."

She found a flaw in his logic, though; "...but what if he doesn't show up? He's not foolish enough to testify against the man he hired to murder someone." He pondered this for a second; "...You're right. But I doubt he can escape the law's grip for very long; we'd be able find him soon enough..." This answer worried her. "I hope you're right, Miles Edgeworth."

He was very confident; "I know by having him testify, we'll bring both him and de Killer down, saving Pearl Fey and freeing Mike Meekins of false charges. I do believe we are ready for this trial tomorrow, don't you?" She nodded in agreement, but still thought his confidence to be unfounded and had her doubts about the next day. She quickly changed the subject to a more bright one to avoid arguing with him; "Engagement ring."

He almost spilt his tea onto his lap at this unexpected change of pace; "Wh-what? You want an engagement ring...?"

She blushed and grabbed her right shoulder as she looked into her lap; "Y-yes...isn't that what people to be married have? E-Engagement rings?" _I should've changed it into a better subject, now I just look spoiled rotten..._

He smiled and set his tea on the table; the sun shining through the window in the living room behind her revealed a bright side to his face. "Yes, it is. We'll go out for lunch, and after we're done, I'll take you to a jeweler and you can pick out our rings. How's that sound to you, Franziska?" She held her free left hand over her mouth to conceal a smile; she was currently holding her whip in her right hand. She didn't really want to ask for a ring; she was kind of hoping he'd surprise her with one. None the less, she was happy with the outcome.

By the time lunchtime came around, however, she was unhappy with this. _He could be more romantic with the way he's giving me an engagment ring. It's not too troubling to make this special for both of us, is it?_

They both agreed to stop at the Corner Bistro for their lunch, and she let it be known she was unhappy through her silence over the meal; he seemed unphased by this. She thought about lashing him with her whip, but she knew it wouldn't do any good. It didn't even bother him anymore, anyways.

After they were done eating, he pulled up to a large jewelry store, Grossberg Jewlers, with a sign that said closed on the door. She couldn't stand this anymore. "Miles, this store is closed!" He smirked as he got out of the car to open her door for her. She was tugging on her whip by now, furious at this man's lack of romantic knowledge. He opened the door to a dark room; "We're breaking and entering now, aren't we?" She said sarcastically. He was still unphased by this.

All of a sudden, she heard an old man clearing his throat rather loudly. "Ahh, Mr. Edgeworth, I've been expecting you. You're a bit late, don't you think?" He replied in confidence; "Sorry, Mr. Grossberg. It won't be a problem again...trust me." With that, the lights came on, causing aisles cases of jewelry to shimmer in the bright lights of the ceiling above. She let out a gasp, and Edgeworth spoke up "Mr. Manny Grossberg is the owner of this store, which is considered to be one of the most luxurious and high quality jewelry stores in the world...I felt it fitting that a woman like you get to pick our rings out from a store of this quality..." She blushed. "They're only open once a week, but Mr. Grossberg was kind enough to let me rent out the store for today." The over-the-top throat clearing surfaced once more; "Ahh, Edgeworth, don't be so humble. Ms. von Karma, I think you should know I only opened this store for you two because Mr. Edgeworth paid a day's quota out of his own pocket. You really should be thanking him."

She couldn't take it; she walked over to him and looked up with a tear in her eye. "Y-you...you did all of this...for me?" He wrapped his arms around her waist and looked down with a smile; "Of course. You're worth more to me than the cost of this, Franziska." She dropped her whip and hugged him back. The throat clearing sounded once more; "I'mby no means rushing you, but I just would like two to know that you have all the time you need. Oh, and Ms. von Karma?" She looked over at him.

"...if you ever happen to meet my older brother, Marvin, in court, please don't hurt him to badly with that whip...I've heard you can be quite dangerous with it." He said this jokingly, but his face read absolute seriousness.

She gave him a small smile back; "...no one's safe from my whip, Mr. Grossberg. No one."

He looked down to where his circular glasses fell off of hs eyes; "Oh dear."

With that, Miles led her up and down the aisles, holding her close as she ooed and awwed over all of the jewelry in the store; the jewelry in the display cases was far more luxurious and expensive than anything she had ever seen in her life, and Miles was giving her choose any two rings she wanted. She knew that he was going to wear one too to fulfill her desire of doing this the traditional German way of both partners wearing a ring, rather than just her wearing one.

She made her choice of a pair of platinum rings with four small diamonds cut to form the shape of one regular diamond. Mr. Grossberg came and got them out of the display case, and Miles purchased them.

Before they left the store, Miles picked her left hand up and removed the leather glove she had put on it; she knew that he knew she was so uncoordinated with her right hand that she'd probably accidentally break it somehow if it were to be put on the right hand; with anyone else, she would be angry with these assumptions; but with him, she admitted that is was the truth with her thoughts. He slid the ring onto her finger, and it fit perfectly; she looked up at it after he was done, and she started to shed tears of utter happiness, and nothing else. She hugged him with a smile, and he wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head; "And to think...you thought I wasn't being romantic at all 20 minutes ago."

She looked up at him for a moment, and then stood on her tip-toes to reach up and peck his lips before they left the store hand in hand.


	22. Chapter 22

CHAPTER 22

Miles and Franziska sat in the courtroom lobby going over their notes for the trial of Shelly de Killer; she was going to be his co-council today. He never once used a co-council in a trial; but he had gave way to her pleas.

He noticed she kept getting distracted from her notes to gaze at her engagement ring; she had specially purchased a very thin pair of leather gloves solely so she could be able to wear her ring over them, without leaving her hand exposed in order to wear her ring. He wondered why she even wore leather gloves in the first place.

He looked down at his ring on his right hand; American men generally didn't wear engagement rings, but she heavily hinted at wanting a German-style wedding, so he wore one on his right hand, as both partners did so in her home country; he didn't mind her breaking tradition and wearing hers on her left hand, because he knew she was much too uncoordinated with her right side to do much with it anyway; she would generally break anything she was holding in that hand by accident. He found it cute how she had the dexterity of a surgeon with her left side, but the cooridination of a newborn infant on her right; he quickly returned his focus onto his notes.

He felt a prescence before him while he and Franziska were giving the notes one final read-through; they looked up simultaneously to find Phoenix Wright and Maya standing before them. Maya burst out before Miles and Phoenix could exchange greetings. "Franzy! On your hand! Is that what I think it is!?" Franziska's face lit up with a childish grin as she flashed her ring to her friend; Miles and Phoenix decided to leave them be in their girlish fawning over her ring and the prospect of marriage.

Wright smirked as they turned to face each other after going off to the side to talk amongst themselves; "So, Miles...I see you got a ring too." Edgeworth flinched at this statement. "Y-yes!" He regained his composure. "It's the way they do things in Germany, and she wanted it to be done that way."

He gave him a funny look, but not in an insulting or questioning way; "How romantic. Anyway, I just wanted to know about the witness you called on to testify, Mick Vick." Edgeworth was puzzled by how he obtained this information; Phoenix spoke up before Edgeworth could. "I should know better than to try to get information out of Detective Gumshoe..." He gave him a smart alecky look you'd see on a 4th grader who was disrupting the teacher's lessons in order to get a laugh out of the class. "...why should I waste the energy trying, when I could just ask him directly?" Edgeworth stifled back a laugh for the sake of remaining professional, and because he knew his friend was forcing jokes to avoid the severity of the situation at hand today.

Miles spoke up; "Anywho, I expect you to know the circumstances surrounding this man, and Detective Gumshoe will provide us with testimony first, as he received all the info acquired by the time trying to bring down de Killer for the past few decades..." A cold, eery voice startled both men.

"...so, Mr. Wright...working with the enemy, I see." They turned to see a man wearing a monocle and a tuxedo, both hands held behind his back. His face was sewn together right down the middle. "Well...well...well. I should of expected this, knowing you were aware of the fact you were defending someone who was guilty of all charges...I just hope you don't lag in your defense today. That would be...unfortunate, if you catch my drift."

Before either man could respond, the mysterious man had seemingly vanished into thin air. "...that was de Killer, wasn't it, Wright?" He turned to see the famous defense attorney nodding a yes; he had turned pale after the encounter with the infamous assassin.

After the exchange with de Killer, Franziska and Maya walked up to the both of them; Franziska spoke up; "Was that de Killer...?" Miles just nodded, as Franziska grew serious, but Maya went hysterical; "Oh-oh-oh-oh! I know I've seen that creep somewhere before!" Phoenix just patted the spirit-medium-in-training on the head to help relieve some of the anxiety and anger building up within her; she burst out once more. "Nick! You're defending him! He's the guy who kidnapped me! I remember now! Why are you defending..." All of a sudden, she turned red. "Oh yeahhh..."

After this, the bailiff signaled them into the courtroom for the day's proceedings.

The judge took his chair a signaled for the trial to begin; Edgeworth looked at the woman beside him; he felt with her there, he could handle this trial. Before he knew it, he was saying "The prosecution would like to call a representative of the team assembled to catch the infamous assassin, Dick Gumshoe." HOLD IT!

Both Edgeworth and Franziska looked directly at Wright, and were shocked to find him as surprised as they were. It turns out, the judge let out this outburst. Edgeworth was puzzled; "Yes, your honor?"

He looked confused; "Don't you think they could've of come up with some sort of acronym to make it easier to say...I mean, that's a mouthful..." _CRACK! CRACK!  
_

Edgeworth smiled at the sound of Franziska's whip; it felt like forever since he had heard it.

Detective Gumshoe made his way to the stand and gave his testimony; "A group of professional detectives were assmebled for tracking down the man we believe to be in the defendant's chair. He's paid to kill and he always gets away, and he leaves a card to let us know it was him. We have no more information about him other than that."

Miles was pleasantly surprised by Gumshoe giving a coherent testimony, but Franziska dashed his pride after the detective's testimony; "Remember, Miles Edgeworth, he's just saying what competent people told him to say."

Phoenix began pressing him on every detail; he was having trouble finding a flaw in this, and it was decisive enough for the judge to hand down a guilty verdict immediately.

Miles watched as his opponent for this trial, and his friend, slump over at the defense's bench; if de Killer got a guilty verdict, Pearl Fey would die. He began losing hope, and Franziska began tugging on her whip anxiously.

HOLD IT!

Wright went on to explain about how they couldn't be sure of this man being de Killer if they have so little information about him.

Gumshoe babbled, and Edgeworth poorly defended his professional testimony, but it was of no use, his decisive testimony had been blown apart.

The judge spoke. "Hmm...Well, can't say that was of any use. It just prolonged the trial. Alright, does the prosecution have another witness prepared?"

Edgeworth bowed and responded with a "Yes, your honor." He was ready to call this witness to the stand and end this today. "The prosecution would like to call one of de Killer's former clients..."

The bailiff burst through the door before Edgeworth could finish; "H-He's gone, your honor!"

The judge didn't understand. "Who's gone? And don't interrupt this trial. It's just now getting to the good part..."

"The witness, your honor! We can't find him anywhere!"

The judge finally understood what was happening; "Oh dear. Well, I take it the the prosecution has no other witnesses?"

Edgeworth had a sullen, angry look in his eyes to go with the stress lines showing on his forehead; He gritted his response through his teeth. "_No, your honor._"

The judge shook his head; "Well, I'll contact the chief of police to send dispatch to find your witness. Until then, I'll have to adjourn this trial until tomorrow. Court is adjourned." _BANG!_

With that, Miles grabbed Franziska's hand and led her out of the courtroom before anyone else had the oppurtunity to leave.


	23. Chapter 23

CHAPTER 23

Franziska sat quietly in the car as Miles drove them back to the apartment; she had anticipated this, and found it strange that he didn't as well. She knew not to bother him at the moment, as he was too stressed out to have a decent conversation with.

She looked out the window as they crossed the large bridge going towards the other side of town away from the courthouse, as that's the side of town the apartments were on. The sky was gray; it looked as if it were about to rain. Franziska shuddered; words could not describe her hate for rain.

They pulled into the parking garage and Miles Edgeworth parked in his designated parking area. After they had gotten out, he quickly made his way towards the staircase. Franziska didn't bother catching up with him; it was eating him up inside that he couldn't put this trial to rest today, especially when he had the perfect plan. She wondered what to do about this; _Maybe I could do something nice for him later..._

Her cell phone began to ring; it was Detective Gumshoe, but she had saved his name in her contacts under "Scruffy Detective."

She picked up the phone as she stood outside the elevator door. "Franziska von Karma speaking."

The detective stumbled over his tongue; "Uh-uh-uh, s-sir?" She made a point to have a cold tone with this man; "What do you want? I'm very busy at the moment." _Yeah,_ she thought to herself, _busy waiting on an elevator._

"Um...uh..Is Prosecutor Edgeworth there?" He spoke so fast she didn't understand a word he said; "What!? Slow down."

"Is M-Mr. Edgeworth a-around right now, sir?" She spoke a single word before hanging up the phone; "No."

She felt somewhat bad for treating the detective like dirt all the time; but she didn't want to make acquantince with such a foolish man; she was perfectly happy with Maya and Phoenix Wright being her friends and Miles being her partner. She didn't feel the need to expand her social circle; it was larger right now than it had ever been in her life, anyway.

The elevator door rang, and she stepped inside as the doors opened for her. She began thinking as she went up to the highest floor; _Maybe I could light some candles and...no, no. Maybe..._ She couldn't think of anyway to bring her true love's spirits up; she was worried about the foolish bailiff being executed for no reason and the little girl's safety just as much as he was; it just wasn't in her hands to save both of them like it was in his.

She continued thinking about this until she reached the top floor; she had gotten completely nowhere during the entire ride up, which went faster than usual do to a stop free ascent.

She turned the doorknob and breathed a sigh of relief to find it unlocked; she hadn't had the time to get her own key made yet, and she didn't want to wait outside in the hallway. She realized Miles had made it up to the apartment faster going on the stairs than she did riding the elevator. She knew he never rode in elevators, and he could go up the stairs of the apartment building without breaking a sweat; she knew that for a fact, as she had had trouble going up the 29 flights of stairs her first time doing so with him, and he just smiled at her and held her hand up the rest of the way; her heart fluttered as she thought about it.

She opened the door to greet Pesu, as he performed his usual routine of running up and slobbering on her, but she paid no attention to the filthy dog this time. She walked into the kitchen to see if he was making tea, but he wasn't there. She checked the living room, but no one was in there. Pesu had been following her around, looking confused as to what was happening.

She walked into the bedroom to find him with his hands over his eyes, elbows in the air, having already changed into his nightwear, although it was only 2:45 p.m. at the moment. She didn't say a word, she just went and lay down beside him in her work attire. She snuggled into his side and put his hand on his chest, and he returned the favor by putting his arm around her as they drifted off into a daytime nap together.

Franiska woke up to the sound of rain outside her window; she was alone in the bed. She sat up with a yawn and went to rub her eye with her left hand; she felt the diamond of her ring brush against her skin and smiled, and then sge reached up with her right hand to rub her eye, as her ring was preventing her from doing so with her left.

She saw Miles walking into the room with a cup of tea in each hand; he handed her one as he sat up on the bed beside her, and Pesu ran his way into the room and jumped up on the bed with them; she threw her hands up in the air as the dog began drooling in her lap, causing the tea in her hand to spill all over her and the bed around her.

She turned red as she looked at Miles with apologetic eyes; she was embarrassed about spilling the tea on herself, and she felt bad about possibly ruining his imported lenin bedspread as well. He just let out a warm laugh and grabbed her hand to help her up from the bed; she looked up at him, unable to conceal a pouty and pleading look in her eyes; her face was red with humiliation, contrasting the blue shade of her hair that matched her eyes. He just smiled down at her, and warmly said; "Here, let's get you cleaned up." He grabbed her hand once more and led her into the bathroom.

She didn't understand what was happening; he was still in there with her; she just gazed on with wide eyes as he undressed himself in front of her; she had seen him naked before, yes, but it just sort of...flowed naturally for her. She had made the first move, as she recalled. Now, however, he was making the first move on her, and she didn't know how to react.

Once he was done, he made his way over to her and wrapped his arms around her; he had sort of a cocky smirk on his face, and his coal grey eyes were half closed. "It's ok, Franziska...we're just going to take a shower together. Nothing past that, unless you want to...ok?"

She nodded a yes and she began to take off her clothes nervously; after she was done, he grabbed her hand and led her into his shower. It was a large shower; it had an adjustable shower head that was gilded in gold, and it was a stand up shower. Steam built up rather quick inside of it. There was a place you could sit down at, but both her's and Miles' various shampoos, conditioners, and body washes sit there, leaving no room for anything, or anyone, else to sit.

He turned the shower on, and she began to reach for her shampoo, but Miles let out a chuckle and stopped her. "Franziska...people don't take showers together to get clean." She blushed; "B-but y-you said we weren't going that far!" He laughed again. "We're not. Just follow my lead, ok?"

He walked over to her and put his arms around her waist and began swaying; she wrapped his arms around his shoulders unsuredly in return. He looked down and pressed his forehead up against hers; he whispered "I love you, Franziska." as he did this.

She was nervous, feeling herself begin to tremble under the hot water being produced by the showerhead. After a few minutes, however, she began to melt away in his arms, feeling safe and content with him and her being this way. _BOOM!_

The sound of thunder striking caused Franziska to gasp and jump simultaneously; Miles pulled her closer and held her tighter; she could feel tears of fear building up. Thunder struck many times after that, until one crashing _BANG! _caused the power in the apartment to go out.

Lightning continued to crash, causing streaks of blue to light up an otherwise completely pitch black apartment as they continued their shower together. Franziska was fighting back tears with all of her might now, but she felt somewhat more secure being in Miles' arms. She held onto him as tightly as her strength would permit, and with each strike of thunder reacting by tightening her grip even harder for a second, before releasing slightly back into her normal clasping on to him.

The thunder wouldn't stop, and, finally, she gave up fighting and she the felt tears begin to fall from her eyes. He picked her chin up with his index and his middle finger, revealing her teary eyes to him. She kept sniffling and tears kept falling down, and he wrapped his arms around her with a more seriousness than he usually displayed; especially when it was just the two of them with each other.

She held her face against his chest, softly crying as he held her close to make her feel safe. It was working; she felt much safer in his arms like this than she would otherwise, but she still was filled with fear. She never understood why these thunderstorms scared her so much, but she consistently cried tears of fear whenever one happened around her. She HATED them with a passion, but she was grateful he was there with her to help her along until the storms stopped.

After about an hour, the storm finally blew over, but the power was still out in the apartment. The had gotten dressed in their nightwear; she put on her clean, light blue with dark blue polka dots nightgown that she loved so much. She had always worn one exactly like this for as long as she could remember, just in different sizes. He put on the clothes he was wearing before; a white t-shirt with red-striped pajama pants; she thought this unsophisticated nightwear attire was a good change of pace from his usual cravat and suit combination. She picked up her whip and held it close as she tried to gather the courage to open the window curtains to see if the storm had passed; she turned away at the last second, too scared to do so. She tried to gather up the courage to look out once more, and was failing once again, until Miles walked up behind her and put his arms around her from behind. She felt strong with this, and opened up the window's curtains to reveal the sun shining and a rainbow outside, providing the once near pitch black room with light.


	24. Chapter 24

CHAPTER 24

Candlelight lit up an otherwise black room as Franziska lay against Miles' shoulder, sleeping once more today. She had fallen asleep twice today now, but he didn't bother her this time. He didn't understand why her fear of rain and storms always got the better of her, but he didn't question it. She was still young, and she was, in most peoples eyes, very mature for a 19 year old. He didn't refute this; she was much more mature and wise than your average 19 year old, but he saw her child-like innocence that she had in most aspects of life outside of the courtroom.

It was nightime now, and the power was still out. Pesu was in the recliner he loved so much, and Miles continued looking around the room as she slept against his side; he couldn't turn on the tv because the power was out, and he couldn't get up to get a book or make some tea, as he didn't want to awake Franziska. As he began pondering as to what to do at the moment, the Steel Samurai ringtone began sounding off next to him. Franziska moved a little bit, but remained asleep. He quickly picked up the phone before it could wake her up.

"Miles Edgeworth speaking."

"Mr. Edgeworth!" It was Detective Gumshoe, seemingly hysterical and excited. More so than usual, at least.

"Yes, detective?"

"We didn't find Vick...we searched his house. We managed to find a note from someone though! And you're not going to believe who it's from, pal!" He had a pretty good idea.

"Sir. Not pal. Sir." Gumshoe audibly flinched. "W-well, it's from Pearl Fey! You know, Pearl Fey? The little girl that's always with Phoenix Wright and Maya Fey?"

He sighed at the detective's absentmindedness. "Yes, detective, I know. What about the girl? Did you find her?"

Edgeworth knew the answer as soon as the first sound left Gumshoe's mouth. "Err...uh...well, no. We think he took her somewhere with him, though."

Edgeworth couldn't bite back a snide remark; "You think so, detective?"

Gumshoe failed to catch the context of the prosecutor's sarcasm; "Yep, pa...Sir! That's what we think."

Edgeworth let out a sigh of annoyance; "Ok, detective. Keep me posted."

"Will do, s-" He hung up on the detective. Although his stupidity was unintentional, he felt that there was no time for it, this was much too serious. He began scrolling through his contacts until he reached Phoenix Wright's number. As he prepared to call the defense attorney in order to inform him of the information he had received on the whereabouts of Pearl, Franziska looked up with half-open eyes.

"...did they find Pearl?" The tone of her voice had a strong sense of drowsiness too it. He kissed the top of her head; chances were she would go right back to sleep as soon as he ansewered her. "No. Not yet. They're working on it."

She yawned; "Call...Maya..." with that, she went right back to sleep on his shoulder. He pressed the call button on Phoenix Wright's contact info; it rang a couple times, and then he picked up. "Hello?"

"Wright, let me speak to Maya."

Phoenix was perplexed by this."Ok?" He heard the phone being handed over. "Yyyyyyyyyyyello?" Her annoying, ADHD-esque spin on hello sent a sharp pain shooting through Edgeworth's forehead. _Franziska certainly keeps herself amongst classy company..._

"Maya? I just wanted to inform you that we found where Pearl was being kept hostage." Immediately after stating this, he spoke up to avoid any confusion as to if they had found her or not. "We didn't find her; we have evidence that she was being held at Mick Vick's house."

It was as if he could hear the young acolyte's heart drop to her stomach. "Oh...ok. Is Franziska there?"

Although they were best friends now, he was caught off guard by the question. "Um...yes, hold on." He pushed the phone towards Franziska who looked up with the same drowsy eyes as before; "...hello?"

Miles heard incoherent babbling over the phone; he stifled back a laugh over the fact that Maya sounded like the adults in the Charlie Brown movies he used to watch with his dad from where he was sitting. "Yes...yes...I hope things get better, Maya." *YYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWNNN*

"Ok..bye bye." She yawned and laid her head back on Miles' shoulder. "What did Maya have to say?"

She didn't respond; she was asleep again. He let out a sigh; as soon as that sigh left his mouth, the lights came back on.

Franziska awoke with this. "Miles Edgeworth...are the lights back on yet?" _She's still calling me by my full name. Heh. It's kinda cute._

She looked around and blushed. "Ohh...well, I believe we should watch a movie together. Don't you?"

He was indifferent; "I don't see how that'd hurt anything." He handed her the remote as she repositioned herself asto where her back was leaning against him; he moved himself beforehand to accompany this position.

She began flipping through the channels trying to find something to watch, until she found a movie that suited her fancy. He didn't object when it was a lifetime movie; he just felt like putting her on a pedestool today, as he felt like doing everytime it stormed. He knew what it was like to be scared of things that generally weren't scary to others. He didn't just want to ignore her fears.

They watched TV until midnight, until Franziska fell asleep laying on top of him once more. _She's slept enough today to last her a week..._He thought to himself as he carefully got up, not to awaken her, and carried her into the bedroom with him; she was of short stature and of skinny build, so it wasn't very difficult to do so. He lay her in bed and kissed her goodnight before he went to bed himself, knowing full well his efforts to rest his body would be in vain that night.


	25. Chapter 25

CHAPTER 25

Franziska awoke to find herself in bed alone. She looked over at the clock to find that it was only 2:45 in the morning; they must've gotten to bed around midnight last night. _Why I am alone right now? _She wondered as she got out bed to try and see if Miles was anywhere to be found.

She checked to kitchen to see if he was up making himself some tea, but to no avail. Upon exiting, she saw a blue light eminating from the living room. She walked in to find Miles drinking tea with Pesu sitting in his lap, watching old re-runs of the original Steel Samurai. She spoke up, drowsily yet nervously; "Miles...?" He didn't look away from the tv screen; "Good morning, Franziska." She knew he was troubled. He didn't act it, and that, strangly, was how she knew, due to the circumstances surrounding him. However, she also knew he wasn't worried for himself; he was worried for the safety of the little girl and the foolish police officer.

She sat beside him; she saw a cup of tea he had prepared for her, but it had gone cold. "Miles...are you ok?" He was lifting up his cup of tea to his lips, but stopped, and just looked down into it as he answered. "Yes...I'm fine." He was lying through his teeth, and she knew it. "Miles, don't lie to me." he looked over at her; stress lines on his forehead became visible from the light of the tv. "Franziska...you don't understand." She was puzzled, and the look on her face must've shown it; "What don't I understand?"

He turned his attention back to the tv and took a sip of his tea. "Franziska...I have people's lives in my hands, and I have to work against them. Do you know what that's like?" His tone of voice embodied stress; the bags under his eyes and the scowl on his face complimented this. Franziska was hurt by the icy bite of his voice, but she loved him, and it was obvious to her that he needed someone to be there for him right now. She placed her hand on his shoulder, and he shut his eyes and looked down for a second. After a moment, he looked back up and they watched the Steel Samurai together in silence for the rest of the night.

He fell asleep around 3:15, after absent mindedly laying his head down in Franziska's lap; she knew he wasn't the type to succumb to doing such things as this; the roles were usually in reverse in this situation. However, she also knew that he had always put his problems aside to be with her during her times of need, like earlier with the thunderstorm. Now, she had to be there for him. She stroked her hand through his hair; his jet black hair was very soft to her touch. She began making comparisons of what it felt like. _Velvet?...No, that's too coarse...Wool?...no, now I'm just thinking of different types of fabrics..._she gave up and decided it was a texture that was unique to his hair.

After a little bit, she laid her head back against the couch and fell asleep. She dreamed, but she woke herself up mid-dream to try and cook her and Miles' breakfast before the trial later that morning. She tried to remember what she had dreamed about as she made her way to the refrigerator. She didn't realize she had forgotten it until she pulled the eggs out of the refrigerator. *YYYAAAWWWNN* She rubbed her eye with her right hand. _I must be sleepier than I thought..._

She tried finding something she could cook in; she remembered her last attempt at cooking, and she hoped it would turn out better this time. She turned the stove top on and prepared to crack the eggs into the pan. She hit the egg against the pan to crack it, but it didn't work like it did when she saw other people do it. She dug her thumbs into the small crack she had created in the eggshell; she started to pull the eggshell apart over the frying pan, but she pulled to hard and the egg exploded all over her and the kitchen around her. She slung the egg yolk off of her hands as she looked down on her nightgown; _Ughh...I'll never be able to get these stains out!_

She looked into her pan and saw that she had gotten more shell than egg into the cook-ware. She frustratedly grabbed another egg and went through the same process over again. She slammed the residue egg-yolk onto the floor and crossed her arms. She wasn't used to this sort of failure; especially in such a simple aspect of life such as cooking. Her forehead crinkled in irritation as she reached over for a spatula to cook her half-egg half-shell breakfast for her and Miles.

She poked and prodded at the food inside of the frying pan as she looked around the room at the mess she had made; only around half of an egg total made it into the pan. The rest found it's way onto the cabinets or onto her, either one. Once she was done with her failed attempt at cooking, she put it on a plate and put some water into the teapot and set it onto the stovetop.

She walked outside the door covered in egg yolk to pick up the morning newspaper. Two of their neighbors, an older, confused couple walked by and gave her strange looks. As she was shutting the door, she heard the man say in a weak, strained voice; "Marge, was that young blue-haired girl who always has the whip covered in egg yolk?"

"WHAT!?" Marge yelled in a smoked-out voice. She hadn't heard what he had said.

"I SAID, WAS THAT..." She slammed the door shut in embarrassment; they probably had awaken the entire floor up by yelling about her being covered in egg yolk. She didn't think things through, and after she slammed the door, she accidentally awoke Miles from his slumber.

He sat up quickly, staring at the door with a face as white as a ghost with a pair bugged out coal grey eyes to match; She turned red with embarrassment.

Then, he smiled warmly at her, and got up off the couch to make his way towards her. When he got over there, he took ihis index finger and wiped some egg yolk off of her nose. He smirked; "I can see you tried cooking again."

She looked at the ground, her face as red as ever; _Why do I always humiliate myself in front of him? _

She didn't see the look on his face when he spoke up once more, but she assumed it was a genuine one. "Thank you. The thought means a lot to me." She was still too embarrassed to look up at him, but he picked her chin up like he always did; she had grown to love it when he did this, as it gave her goosebumps everytime he did it.

"Miles?"

"Yes, Franziska?"

She had a half-embarrassed half-playful grin on her face. "Let's stop and get breakfast on the way to the courthouse, ok?"

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: I haven't been putting off the trial, lol. I've just been trying to figure out what I want to happen in it. Next Chapter, for sure, dudes. Alright, Review! Later.**

**-ghostfacekiller39**


	26. Chapter 26

` CHAPTER 26

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: I just received word that my cousin just died after a long bout with cancer. I'm dedicating this work to him and to his memory. **

**In loving memory of E.B., 1973-2013. Fly Free as a bird.**

Just as they had done the previous day, Miles and Franziska sat in the courtroom lobby, going over their notes for this case. He had felt lucky to be able to drag it to day 2, but he was upset that he still hadn't been able to get Mick Vick to testify. He knew he had to drag it to day 3, and pray tell that Gumshoe and the rest of the precinct find that man in the meantime. He continued looking over his notes, but he couldn't help but lose focus as the weight on his shoulders was becoming too much for him to bear.

He looked across the lobby to see Wright and Maya sullenly talking. He clutched his elbow and winced; _How selfish of me...they're going through a much harder time than I am right now..._

"Miles Edgeworth? Is everything ok?" He turned his attention to Franziska beside him; he saw how she was genuinely worried about him, as her light blue eyes were somewhat widened with inquiry, but in a pleading way; "Yes, Franziska...I'm fine." He could tell she didn't want to accept this answer, but seemed to leave it alone in order not to stress him before the case.

The replacement bailiff walked into the lobby and announced that the judge was ready for the prosecution and the defense, so they made their way into the courtroom together and took the prosecution's bench. He quickly regained himself, clearing himself of any pressure he felt was on him momentarily; he saw Wright trying to do the same thing at the defense's bench across from him. The judge made his way up to his chair.

"Um, uh, yes. Was anyone able to find the witness, Mr. Edgeworth?" He was stumbling over his words. "No, your honor. However, the prosecution has prepared another witness and another expert testimony, your honor." The judge nodded, and as he did so, a lollipop fell out of his beard. He picked it up, and he excitedly proclaimed "Oh hoh! That's were that went! I've be-" _CRACK! _Franziska had tried hitting out of his hand with her whip the first time, but missed and hit his shoulder. "Owww!" _CRACK! _She succeeded in her attempt the second time through.

"M-Ms. von Karma!" He put a pouty face on, his lower lip pertruding from his face and a pair of puppy dog eyes to boot. "That was my lollipop..." _CRACK! _Miles looked over to see his co-council growing irritated with the judge, preparing to lash at him once more. He stopped her with his hand. "Franziska...we need to get on with the case. Can you please stop maiming his honor?" She crossed her arms and blew out a "Hmph."

The honor had ducked under the Judge's bench in order to protect himself from any more of Franziska von Karma's wrath. He poked his head out from under it, like a turtle poking his head out of his shell. Miles remained serious and told the judge "Your honor, you can come out from under there now." He poked his head up just a smidge further, revealing the top part of his beard.

Phoenix slammed his hands on his desk. "Your honor! We need to get this trial started already! Come out from under there, please!" He poked his head up just a little further and said "No. You're all being mean to me, so I'm taking my gavel and going home." Miles moved his hand out of the way of Franziska's whip. _CRACK! _"Ah! Alright! Fine! Geez!"

Edgeworth pulled some papers out of his binder; "The prosecution would like to call detective Gumshoe to the stand once more."

With that, the homicide detective made his way to the stand once more. "Witness, name and occupation, please."

The detective's eyes were darting around the courtroom, but in more of an absent-minded way rather than a nervous way. "Name's Dick Gumshoe, pal, and I'm a detective in Criminal Affairs."

Edgeworth spoke up again, hoping something would come to him as to what the detective should testify about. He slammed one hand on his desk. "Detective, please testify to the court as of the case held in this court a year ago, as where the accused is thought to have been the assassin."

He didn't understand; "What, the Matt Engarde case? Oh, I forgot the case name for that. Was it SY-3? No...BY-3? No...something with a Y-3 in it, though, pa-" _CRACK! _

"ACKK!"

Franziska spoke up in an irritated tone; "Scruffy, please stop with the foolishly foolish drabble and get on with your testimony."

He looked like a little puppy dog; "O-ok, sir..." Miles usually felt bad for the detective; unless Larry was around, he always got the blunt of Franziska's whip; but he was grateful for her lashing at him this time. This was too serious of a case for a lack of focus in anyone.

"Yeah, pal, I'm pretty sure that that's de Killer. I mean, doesn't he just look suspicious? And besides, I dug up some evidence from the I-don't-know Y-3 case for today, and look:" He presented the courtroom with two photographs, each depicting de Killer speaking with the man accused of hiring an assassin, Matt Engarde; "Look! He's right there talking to a man who confessed to hiring an assassin!" All four of them; Edgeworth, Wright, Franziska, and Maya, deflated at this presentation of evidence. It was sure to land de Killer a guilty verdict.

Wright began pressing Gumshoe on everything; all signs seemed to point to this man being the assassin. The judge banged his gavel.

"I believe this court room has heard enough to indict the defendant on all counts of murder. I hereby find the defendant..." He stopped. "Should I call you John Doe or Shelly de Killer?"

The man in the defendant's chair didn't even flinch; he showed no signs of pressure, fear, or doubt. "John Doe will be fine, your honor, sir."

"Y-Yes, well...I hereby find the defendant, John Doe..."

GUILTY

Edgeworth buried his face into his hands, and he could feel anger eminating from Franziska beside him; he didn't look over at Wright or Maya, but he could tell that they were just as sunk as he was. _Gumshoe...why did you have to present that evidence? Why?_

The courtroom was silent. "This trial is hereby ad-"

A flamboyant voice spoke up from the gallery; "HOLD IT!"

Miles looked up, to see Mick Vick standing up in the gallery. All sorts of commotion surrounding him ensued.

The judge grew wide-eyed. "Wh-what's the meaning of this outburst? This trial is o-"

The studio executive flashed his rings, causing a blinding glare; Edgeworth heard Maya ask Phoenix "...is that man wearing sunglasses indoors...?"

He spoke up; "Come now, Mr. Judge, I can't just let one of my most valuble employees be accused of murder like this, hmm?" He made his way over to the witnesses' stand, uninvited. As he left the gallery, Miles saw him pushing a pale, scared little girl with a black eye along with him; _Pearl Fey..._

"You'll have to excuse my niece, Pearl. She looks this way because she had a bicycle accident ealier today. She loves all the toys Uncle Mickey provides her with, doesn't she?" The young girl was wearing clothes of a regular child rather than her acolyte outfit; "Y-yes..." Her answer was filled with fear and seemed forced; the judge didn't notice this. "Ah, yes. If you're going to testify that this man is not Shelly de Killer, I believe we need to take a 30 minute recess in order for the prosecution to prepare this witness. Court will now be adjourned for recess." _BANG!_

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm going to try to post part 2 of this trial tonight. I'm going to put it Edgeworth-Centric, and I'll make up for it by putting up 2 Franziska-Centric chapters tomorrow. Alright, thanks! -ghostfacekiller39**


	27. Chapter 27

CHAPTER 27

Miles and Franziska sat in silence with Mick Vick and Pearl in the room set aside for preparing impromptu witnesses. They had tried to get him to talk, and Franziska even tried using her whip, but he didn't say a word about what he was going to testify. Miles saw Franziska furiously tugging on her whip; he didn't know what was preventing her from hitting this man. He kept on playing around with his cell phone; it was clear they were not getting a shred of information from this man.

Franziska pulled out her cell phone and started texting. After a second, Miles felt his cell phone vibrate in his pocket. He pulled it out and read the text message to himself; _Should we get this guy for Obstruction of Justice? _He texted back. _No. We have to make sure that the little girl is safe. _He heard her phone vibrate next to him and she read the text message to herself and put her phone back into her pocket. For the first time, Vick spoke up; "Now, now, don't think you can get me for obstruction. Also, Mr. and Mrs. Prosecutor, I hope that you weren't thinking of having me testify against Mr. de Killer." This man's arrogance sent pain shooting through Miles' forehead. "Mr. Vick, you wanted it to be known that you were the one who brought down de Killer! What are you going to do if you're not going to testify against him?"

He flashed his jewelry with a smug grin, letting his sunglasses fall down onto the edge of his nose, showing his eyes. "I'm going to protect him, 'because I was in fear of my life', then I'll feel 'bad', and bring him down, and accept perjury charges like the noble man I am. Care to find a hole in my plan, you two?" Franziska was tugging on her whip, and Miles knew he'd be doing the same thing if he had one in his hands.

The bailiff knocked on the door. "Court is about to reconvene, Mr. Edgeworth. I...um..." He didn't seem to know how to tell them to get to the courtroom politely. _CRACK! _"AH! C-COURTROOM!"

A few minutes later, Miles and Franziska were at the prosecution's bench, facing Maya and Phoenix Wright across from them. The judge made his way back up to his chair, and took his seat, with what looked like a cigarette sticking out of his mouth. Maya posed the question on everyone's mind; "Your honor, are you smoking?" He pulled a lollipop out of his mouth. Miles deflated at this man's display of professionalism. _I don't know if this guy is even suitable to be on my case anymore..._

"No, I'm not. A veteran detective in the gallery had a spare lollipop and gave me one to replace the one I lost during the-" _CRACK! _"Stop being so foolish, your honor! The prosecution calls the fool who interrupted this courts proceedings earlier, Mr. Mick Vick, to the stand."

The judge spoke up; "But Ms. von Karma...isn't Miles Edgeworth the acting pros-" _CRACK! _"O-o-ok, Mick Vick, please take the stand."

The shiny man in the brown suit took the stand, and before Miles could ask his name and occupation, he spoke up. "Mick Vick, CEO of Worldwide Studios. Now, Mr. Judge, I want to get this done quick, my little niece Pearl is quite afraid of these courtrooms." Miles thought to himself _What a slimebag, using a little girl as a scapegoat like that..._

The judge didn't even have time to respond before Mick Vick started his testimony.

"This man, John Doe...strange name, isn't it? Anywho, he's one of the main stagehands in productions at my company. I've provided you all in this court with work records, dating back before I have took control of the company." He shrugged. "It should be clear that this man is not this 'The Killer' man you all keep babbling about."

OBJECTION!

Miles had been the one to object; "We've seen these pictures submitted by Detective Gumshoe, and it's quite clear that this man in the defendant's chair is the same as the one in this picture!"

Vick was unphased; "Any objections, Mr. Wright?"

"Wh-what?" He shrugged and flashed his rings; "Any objections. It's your job to defend this loyal employee of mine, and I don't think you're doing a good job of it if you're not even objecting to the prosecutions claims." He shot a quick glance towards Pearl in the gallery to get his point across.

Phoenix was sweating bullets; "U-um, yes..." He seemed to be trying to find something to object to.

OBJECTION!

"Recall the Matt Engarde case; we never had an OUNCE of decisive proof that the man in the picture was, in fact, Shelly de Killer. So how do we know that this man is Shelly de Killer?"

Vick grinned with a flamboyant, childish clap to accompany his smug look; "That's what I like to hear, Mr. Attorney! I think the courtroom could learn a thing or two from this man!"

The judge pulled his lollipop out of his mouth as if he were a biker, riding his Harley and smoking a cigarette; "Ayyyyeee. Any-" _CRACK! _"OBBJEECCTIIONNS!" He dropped his lollipop once again."Awww horsefeathers..." The judge looked as if he had just gotten done watching Marley & Me.

Miles spoke up; "No objections, your honor."

Mick Vick smiled smarmily at this; "Oh, come now, Mr. and Mrs. Prosecutor, you can't just roll over like that. That shows..._worthlessness and weakness."_

Franziska lashed her whip. _CRACK! _"AH-AH! Ms. von Karma! What'd I do now!?" Miles let out a chuckle; her hand had slipped and she had accidentally struck the judge with her whip instead of her intended target. She didn't seem dissappointed in the outcome, though.

The judge sent the bailiff for a band-aid as he prepared to adjourn court for the day; "I've come to a conclusion..." He began sucking his thumb were Franziska's whip had scratched his skin; "We..cannot...come...to...a clear...conclusion...at today's...trial...court is...adjourned." He banged his gavel, signaling the dismissal of court that day.


	28. Chapter 28

CHAPTER 28

Franziska looked out the passenger seat window as they sat together in silence on the car ride back to the apartment; after seeing the little girl like that, nausea had been working it's way up Franziska's stomach. She nor Edgeworth were in the mood to talk.

Usually, on a day like this, it would feel fitting for the sky to be overcast, and if Franziska had her way, no chance of rain, but it was a deceptively sunny day; lazy clouds were hanging in the sky, the sun was reflecting off the lake as they crossed the bridge connecting the two parts of the city together. All that was missing was the birds chirping.

They pulled into the underground parking garage and parked in the designated parking spot. They got out of the car and made their way towards the stairwell, but Franziska stopped just short of the door; she was feeling a bit too nauseous to climb 29 flights of stairs. Miles noticed this; "Franziska...you know you don't have to take the stairs with me. You can use the elevator anytime you want, you know." She clutched her right elbow with her left hand; her whip was situated in her right hand.

"I...I can do it." She wasn't about to be weak; she would tell him how she feels, but she wasn't going to be helpless. She wasn't a damsel in distress, after all.

Miles wasn't taking this, though. "Franziska...you're looking green right now. I think you should take the elevator. You're not in any condition to climb 29 flights of stairs."

She began getting light-headed; "No! Miles Edgeworth, I can make it up the stairs." He crossed his arms as if her were contemplating what to do.

Without hesitation, he grabbed her arm and pulled her towards the elevator. When they got there, he pressed the button. "Miles...what are you doing?"

He let go of her arms and was growing impatient waiting on the elevator; "You're not in any condition to climb the stairs, Franziska."

The Elevator rang and the doors open, and he pulled Franziska inside. "Miles, you don't have to do this..." He pressed the button for the 29th floor and the doors closed.

"Miles..." He eyes were closed and his arms were crossed in an attempt to hide his trembling and how he was growing more pale with each passing second.

_Ding. _The doors opened, and Miles breathed a sigh of relief as they made their way out of the elevator. She grabbed onto his hand; _What he puts himself through for me..._she tried shifting her attention away from the sickness in her stomach, but her attempts fell in vain.

She held his hand as they made their way to the apartment together; his legs seemed like jello. Once they got to the door, Miles spoke up. "Make yourself comfortable. I'm going to get us some blankets and we'll lay down on the couch together."

She made her way to the kitchen table; she was starting to sweat because of the nausea. Miles brought her her nightgown, and she got up and put it on real quick. He had already changed into his pajamas.

He lay down on the couch first, and she lay down on top of him. They covered up with a sheet, and Miles picked up the remote, but didn't turn on the tv. They sat in silence for a little bit, before Franziska broke the silence.

"So, Miles...what do you remember from our childhood together...?" She said in an attempt to make conversation.

He quietly laughed. "I remember you were even more awkward than you are now." She blushed and rolled on her side to hit him in the shoulder.

"I also remember that you loved gardening and puzzles, and you had a riding crop instead of a whip."

"Yeah, well, I can remember more about you than that." She said, full of confidence. "...You...you liked to read! And you drank a lot of tea!" He smiled. "I still do those things, Franziska."

"Hmph." She blew out this sound in an upward direction, hitting her hair.

Miles yawned; she felt it, but she didn't hear it; it was a silent yawn."Franziska, I'm going to take a nap, now. Wake me up if you get too lonely, okay?"

"OK." With that he dozed off, and after about 5 minutes, she did the same.


	29. Chapter 29

CHAPTER 29

Franziska woke up to the feeling of a cold, wet tongue sliming it's way across her right cheek. She didn't have to be completely awake to know what it was. _"Pesu...!" _Shegrowled at the large sheepdog, who only seemed to be excited by her being awake.

She got up slowly, as not to awake Miles beneath her, and made her way to the freezer and pulled out the carton of peppermint-chocolate-chip ice cream she loved so much. She scooped into to a bowl and sat down at the dinner table. Pesu had been following her, and she had been ignoring him in order to eat her ice cream in peace. He began spinning in circles rapidly, and his breathing had increased. "What, Pesu? What do you want?" He let a whimper; Franziska had never been around animals much, but is was obvious that this dog needed to go to the bathroom. She finished up her ice cream quickly and put her clothes, and led Pesu out the door, grabbing his leash off of a hook stationed beside it.

She walked the dog around the block; he did his business, but Franziska quickly got away before she would be forced to pick it up. She found that the dog didn't make things very difficult for her, as she had expected him to, and didn't slobber at all. _Does he only drool on me and no other time?_

After they were done, they made their way back into the hotel. She took Pesu with her into the Apartment's lobby; It was a large apartment complex, and probably the most luxurious in the city, so it had two lobbies; one that allowed pets and one that didn't. She tied Pesu's leash to the chair she planned on sitting in and set her whip down on the table to further secure her proclaimation of that particular place in the corner of the lobby. She had never been in the lobby before, because Edgeworth didn't like it, so she just avoided it, but she decided to take a look at it today.

It was a peaceful enviroment; there were residents/pet owners in there with both dogs and cats, but everyone seemed to get along fine. She got a bottled coffee out of the refrigerator that sat in the lobby, open to any resident who wanted in it.

She grabbed a newspaper and took a seat at her table; she started to read the headlines of it, and she felt like she was going to enjoy this place. _BANG!_

A useless-looking man in an orange jacket came bursting through the doors with what looked to be a dog he had literally picked up off the side of the road 5 minutes ago.

_Now I know why Miles doesn't like this place..._ Larry Butz, with his smelly "pet," walked over to two ladies, one looking to be booksy and the other one platinum blonde with a spray tan, making polite conversation with small pets in their purses. "Hey, ladies! You're looking beautiful today! How long has it been?"

The booksy girl gave no attention to him, but the other one looked at him puzzledly, although her facial expression didn't have to change much in order to do this. "Larry? I thought you had a cat..."

He stumbled over his words; "I-I-I-I-I...Mr. Cat was depressed! So I let him stay at home today...and I brought my other pet, errr...Mr. Dog! With me! Yeah!" The booksy girl and Franziska simultaneously deflated as this man's stupidity, although they were all the way across the room from each other. The not-so-booksy girl talking to him didn't seem to fall much farther from the branch as Larry did, though, and smiled genuinely at him. "Oh, I'm sorry. Tell Mr. Cat I hope he gets better, ok?" She leaned in and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

Larry was beaming; "You know...babe" Franziska noted how he forget the blonde girl's name. "...I always thought that if you were a booger, I'd pick you first."

Franziska was just flabbergasted at this man; _Shakespeare must've forgotten to add that line to Romeo & Juliet..._

The booksy girl beside them couldn't help but just drop a cold "WHAT." as Larry continued making his moves on the blonde girl, who was gushing at his compliments. _Well, I guess they'd make a good couple._

Franziska picked the newspaper laying on top of her whip in front of her and began reading it over her cup of bottled cup of coffee. She heard the blonde girl say goodbye for the evening and go back up to her apartment. She was thinking it strange how she was just now reading the newspaper over coffee, considering it was just now getting to be 5 o'clock.

"Franzy!?"

"NO."

Larry Butz pulled the chair out on the otherside of the table and took a seat. "Franzy! Yo! How you been?" _CRACK!_

"I do not need to waste my time making foolish conversation with foolishly foolish fools such as you. Fool." He was beaming, and disregarded everything she just said.

"Soooo...you're with Edgey now, eh?" She crossed her arms and closed her eyes, holding her whip in her left hand, prepared to strike at any second. "Yes."

He blew a whistle out and put his feet up on the table, knocking Franziska's coffee into her lap. She broke lightspeed with her whip; _CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!_

His chair had fallen over and he hit the floor with a thud. He picked his chair back up and sat down in it, rubbing the back of his head. Franziska had reached over and gotten some napkins and was trying to dry her clothes. He continued on, as if she were interested in what he had to say. "You know...I remember when me, Edgey, and Nick were little..." She stopped cleaning her clothes with the napkins and looked up, wanting to hear more.

She knew it didn't matter to him whether she wanted to hear more or not, he was going to say it, anyway. "...he would ALWAYS talk about his dad. 'I wanna be a defense attorney just like him one day.' 'He's my hero, I love him so much.' And he did it. I'm so proud of him." He was grinning.

She just buried her head into her hand, and just seemed to give up trying to reason with him. "He's not a defense attorney, Larry Butz. He's a prosecuting attorney." He shot her a thumbs up; "Same thing, dude!"

She just got up, grabbing Pesu and her whip, and made her way back to the apartment without responding. Larry just shrugged it off and tried talking to some of the other women in the lobby.

Once she and Pesu had made it back to the apartment, she smelled tea coming from the kitchen. She unhooked Pesu's leash and he jumped into the recliner, and she made her way into the kitchen.

She walked up behind Miles Edgeworth and wrapped her arms around his waist. "Hello, Miles Edgeworth. I love you." She felt him get goosebumps. "I love you too, Franziska. Thanks for taking Pesu on a walk while I was sleeping."

She smiled. "Anytime, Miles." She heard him sniffing the air; "Why do I smell really cheap coffee?"

She just blushed and thought to herself _Damn you, Larry Butz._ She wondered why she thought she could manage to do something for Miles without humiliating herself, but she just shrugged it off with a smile as the teapot whistled, signaling their cups of tea to be ready.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: I wanted to do a chapter exclusively for comic relief, as the 3rd day of the Trial will begin in the next chapter, so I wanted to lighten the mood. I'll probably be posting Ch. 30 later on today.**

**-ghostfacekiller39**


	30. Chapter 30

CHAPTER 30

Miles Edgeworth find himself at the prosecution's bench with Franziska as his co-council once more, with Maya and Wright across from him. He had called Mick Vick to testify once again, and he obliged this time. He needed to attack this situation from all angles; if not, two undeserving people were to die. There was no sugarcoating it, either.

The judge made his way up to the stand. "This court is now in session for the trial of er, John Doe slash Shelly de Killer." He audibly said slash, and Franziska let out a sigh.

He cleared his throat. "Yes, well...is the prosecution ready?"

"Yes, your honor."

The judge then turned his attention to Phoenix Wright. "Is the defense ready?"

He was sweating; "Y-Yes, your honor."

The judge didn't notice his lack of confidence and had Edgeworth call Mick Vick to the witness stand.

As Vick made his way up to the stand, Edgeworth began looking around the courtroom to see if Pearl was seated in the gallery for the day's proceedings, but he couldn't find her. Vick spoke up; "I testified yesterday. Do I have to repeat my name and occupation?" His voice had a whiny tone to it, like that of a small child. It was so disturbingly whiny that Miles assumed it was a sarcasm.

The judge had been caught off guard by this question. "Err...um...I suppose not?"

Vick brightened up; "Okay then! I'll just be mosying along with my testimony now." He flashed his rings with a sickening sense of pride.

"This man is John Doe. How do I know? He's worked at my studios longer than I have. That's all. I provided the court with his documentation yesterday, so there's no way he could be this Shelly de Killer everyone keeps babbling about."

OBJECTION!

Miles pointed out what he knew Phoenix couldn't; "Yesterday, we provided the court with these photos: photos of the defendant handing something to Matt Engarde, who was found guilty of hiring an assassin last year. This is strongly suggesting that this man is Shelly de Killer."

OBJECTION!

"C-Can you prove it? Or are you just going to play circumstances?" Edgeworth had been anticipating an objection from Wright, but not such a weak one. He was clearly grasping.

"No, I can't, but the odds of this man being accused of being an assassin twice and the circumstancial evidence we have backing that up is a bit too strange to be a coincidence, wouldn't you agree?" The gallery started rabbling;

"Yeah! That's too strange!"

"What a scumbag that lawyer is, trying to get a cold-blooded killer off the hook!"

Edgeworth thought that Phoenix deserved credit; he was playing off the gallery's attacks very well, and staying strong. _BANG! BANG! BANG!_

"Order! Order! I can't think with all this noise!" Edgeworth heard Franziska mumbling beside him; "I doubt you can think at all, whether it's loud like this or completely silent..."

The judge was, to Edgeworth's surprise, taking this very seriously. "Mr. Wright! Mr. Vick! Explain this to the courtroom, immediately!"

"Well your honor..." Phoenix was clearly about to draw a blank, when Vick interrupted him. "Oh my...well, I am under oath, and I know the reason why he was there..."

Edgeworth spoke up; "Why, Mr. Vick, why was he!?" He knew that Mick Vick wasn't about to tell the truth, but he didn't expect him to say anything at all.

Vick began playing around with his rings, "Mr. Engarde was Global Studio's biggest star in his days, was he not? Global Studios and Worldwide Studios are...rival studios, you know, Mr. Judge? Anywho, I made a...business move with Mr. Doe over there. I sent him to the hotel to spy on Mr. Engarde...you know, dig up some dirt on him? Fortunately for me, he ended up doing that to himself." He shrugged with a smile. "I guess a should have expected that from such a..._second rate_ studio." He added emphasis on the words second rate.

The gallery went off again. "Oh, well...I guess this man wasn't de Killer after all."

"That defense attorney isn't so bad, it's that dirty prosecutor!"

Edgeworth was too shocked to pay attention to the gallery; _Liar! I can't believe that man! _Franziska was vehemently tugging her whip to his side.

_BANG BANG BANG! _"Order! Order, I say!" Vick seemed to be still happy with himself; "I apologize, Mr. Judge. I'm willing to take any charges pressed against me. I'm a changed man now." The gallery went off again.

"What a noble man!"

"I like Worldwide studios better than Global Studios now!"

"Mommy? I don't want Steel Samurai toys anymore. I like the Jammin' Ninja now!"

Miles sighed out "You have got to be kidding me." Franziska just replied with "I wish."

Out of desparation and impulse, Miles yelled out "Your honor! The prosecution would like to request a 15 minute recess to look over evidence."

The judge nodded. "Does the defense have any objections?" Phoenix shook his head. "No, your honor."

The old man nodded. "Very well, permission granted. Court is adjourned for a 15 minute recess."

_10 minutes later._

Edgeworth and Franziska were looking over the evidence together in a now empty courtroom; Gumshoe had laid it all out for them to inspect, but they were failing to find any thing that contradicted Vick's testimony. _CRACK! _"OWWW!"

"Scruffy! Why did you do such a foolishly lackluster job only a fool could only foolishly do by providing us with such foolish evidence!"

Gumshoe was actually starting to stand up for himself; "Hey, sir! It's not my fa-" Edgeworth stopped him. "Detective, I believe it's in your best interest not to finish that sentence."

Gumshoe was flaring at the nostrils like a bull seeing red; "No! I'm tired of getting hit with that whip because she's not doing her job right!"

Franziska turned red with anger; "WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY!?" Edgeworth sighed; "I warned you, detective..." _CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!..._

Before he turned back to the evidence table, he calmly, yet jokingly asked with a half grin-half sorry-for-Gumshoe smile "Franziska, just please don't kill him, ok?" she didn't even respond; She probably didn't hear him over the crack of her whip and Gumshoe's yells of "OUCH! O-OW!"

Edgeworth was still having no luck with anything, however; he checked his watch and let out a sigh; _It's been 12 minutes, and I have found...nothing._

Gumshoe hit the floor with a thud, disguising the sound of the courtroom doors being opened.

Franziska was still breathing heavily in frustration as she returned to Miles' side at the evidence table. They both jumped at a whispering voice behind them; _"Franzy and Mr. Edgeworth, pssssssst."_

They turned around to see Maya holding the cup of coffee from the previous case; "Nick told me to give this to you, tell you to get Gumshoe to check it for fingerprints, and get back to him..." She looked at the detective, passed out on the floor. "Did you kill him, Franzy?" Franziska looked over towards the detective. "No, I highly doubt it. I should wake him up, though, shouldn't I?"

Maya grinned. "Yeah, and I need to be going. Good luck!" She quickly hopped along, way too upbeat to be aware of everything in the situation. Franziska woke up Gumshoe by shaking him by the shoulder. He sat up with a groan; "Ughh...ACK!" He rolled to his side and covered his face with his arms; "D-don't hurt me anymore! You're the best prosecutor ever! I'm sorry!" She blew out a "Hmph." And shoved to cardboard coffee cup into his face. "You can make it up to me by getting this checked for prints, immediately." He grabbed the cup and stood up with a salute; "Right away, sir! Bye, Mr. Edgeworth!" He ran out of the doors, stumbling over himself at the start of his sprint. "Why does he like you so much, Miles?"

He shrugged her an "I don't know..." and the courtroom began filling back up.

Franziska and Miles stood behind the prosecution's bench while Phoenix and Maya stood behind the defense's bench. The judge made his way out of his chambers and up to his chair.

It was completely silent as he very slowly made his way up the stair leading to his chair. Franziska and Edgeworth both heard Maya quietly ask Phoenix "...is he climbing some stairs or Mount Everest?"

After he finally made his way up to his chair, he was sweating. "H...ha-has...has the prosecutions found any evidence disproving the witnesses claim?" He was tired, and his breath smelled strong enough like cigarette smoke to where Franziska and Miles could smell it.

"No, your honor." Miles thought to himself, _Gumshoe, you better get back here with that coffee cup, immediately, or else..._

The judge nodded. "Very well, then I see no reason to further- COUGH COUGH- prolong this case...I swear, those youngsters outside the Stop-n'-Shop talked me into trying a cigarette, told me it would be cool, but I just feel sick! I'm never smoking again..." _CRACK!_

"Yes, yes...this courtroom finds the defendant, John Doe slash Shelly de Killer..."

The sound of two doors bursting open echoed throughout the courtroom.

"HOLD IT, PAL!"

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: I left it on a cliffhanger :P anyways, I'm sorry I couldn't post this last night, dudes. I like, went to bed early because I had to halfway across Texas for the funeral, which was at 10 this morning, so I had to wake up a couple hours earlier than I usually do. I'll probably post the rest of the chapters in daily installments. Thanks for reading, and review.**

-ghostfacekiller39


	31. Chapter 31

CHAPTER 31

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: There's one more chapter after this, so don't think this is the end yet. I posted a poll asking about my next stories on my profile, and I just thought I should tell you all to check that out ASAP. **

Gumshoe burst into the courtroom, causing an already startled courtroom to rabble aimlessly once more. Franziska didn't even listen to them; she was more interested on what the foolish detective had in his hand; the coffee cup that killed Damon Lyght.

He ran up towards the judge, triumphant. "Your honor, pal! You'll never guess what we found on this coffee cup!" Mick Vick slammed both hands on the witness' bench in a sweat.

*COUGH* *COUGH* "I swear, I really shouldn't go to gas stations anymore during recesses. I'm sorry, Detective Sweatyshoes, I can't say that there's anything to change my verdict. I believe I'm going to hand down my verdict now."

OBJECTION!

Gumshoe had a puppy-dog look in his eyes. "...It's not sweatyshoes, It's Gumshoe..."

The judge grew wide eyed. "Oh, Sorry, Detective Gumshoe. Anyway, we find the defandant, John Doe..."

OBJECTION!

All eyes turned to the defense attorney, but Phoenix seemed confident. "Your honor, the defense believes the court needs to hear out the detective."

Vick yelled out; his face visibly stunned, matching the extreme amounts of sweat pouring down his face. "M-Mr. Judge! Y-You are ready to hand down your verdict! This second-rate detective couldn't find his ass if he were sitting on his own two hands! You can't take this worthless, pathetic, idiotic, second-rate detective seriously, c-can you!?"

The judge turned his attention towards Edgeworth, ignoring Vick's outburst; "Does the prosecution have any objections?"

Franziska could tell Edgeworth had been hiding his anxiety up until that point, and his joy at Gumshoe's arrival. "No, your honor."

"Very well. Detective, explain to this courtroom the significance of this evidence."

HOLD IT!

Vick was beating down sweat now; "N-n-nrghh...No! No! Halt! Stop! This entire courtroom is second-rate! The Prosecution, the Defense, the Judge, all second rate! Kangaroo court, Kangaroo court, I say!"

Edgeworth became the first one to acknowledge Vick's outbursts; "Mr. Vick, it seems to me like you don't want this evidence presented to the courtroom. Can you explain to reason why?"

Vick was sweating and shaking; "N-n...h-h-help me...p-please..."

The judge spoke up; "Gumshoe, what is so special about this coffee cup?"

Gumshoe smiled, knowing what only a select few in the courtroom knew for sure, and what Miles and Franziska had both correctly deduced. "Well, Your Honor, pal, we found fingerprints. Fingerprints that belong to a man named..." Franziska figured that Gumshoe was going for a dramatic pause, to build suspense. Suspense she didn't want to feel, and time she didn't want to waste. _CRACK! _"OUT WITH IT, SCRUFFY!"

Gumshoe winced. "A-ah, Ok, ok! Haven't you ever heard of a dramatic pause?" He crossed his arms with an irritated look on his face. "...they belong to Mick Vick, pal."

The courtroom gallery was rabbling once again; "What? I thought he was the good guy."

"I guess it makes sense, he was flipping bricks just a second ago, dude."

"Mommy, I hate the Jammin' Ninja! Steel Samurai all the way!"

_BANG BANG BANG! _"Order! Order in the court!"

For the first time all day, de Killer spoke up; "Your honor, I believe I can explain everything, so my testimony is vital. I believe this has happened twice too many times now..."

Edgeworth spoke up. "Your honor, the prosecution would like to call the defandant, John Doe, to the stand."

The judge nodded; "Very well, does the defense have any objections?"

Franziska noted Phoenix's well earned confidence. "No, your honor."

"Very well, John Doe, will you please take the stand?"

John Doe remained at the defandant's stand, utterly apathetic. "Your honor, I believe I've been lying to the court about my identity. My real name is one that commands respect; one I take great pride in..._Shelly de Killer." _

The court gallery was speechless for the first time all day. The judge jumped back under his chair.

De Killer spoke up. "Your honor, sir, come out from under there, now." The judge quickly complied.

No emotion from de Killer; "Now, where was I? Oh, yes. Around 4 days ago, I was called on for my services to assassinate a defense attorney; the reason was left unclear. I began work at a coffee shop he frequented, and poisoned the coffee when I heard the unusually loud bailiff tell me he was getting on with sugar and no cream for the prosec utor Klavier Gavin and one with light sugar and light cream for a Damon Lyght. I slipped the poison into his cup, and left my card...but I take it that it wasn't found, was it?"

The judge was flabbergasted; "N-No! We charged the bailiff with the murder!" de Killer still maintained no emotion. "Yes, well, I believe you should release him and clear him from all charges. That was me."

Phoenix Wright spoke up; "And Mr. de Killer, your client?"

De Killer just responded in the same, refined and emotionless manner he had been talking in all this time; "That was a Mr. Mick Vick at WorldWide Studios."

Mick Vick broke with a blood curdling yell;

"NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNRRRRRRRRRRRR RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

He slammed his fists down on the witnesses' stand down so hard he shattered each and everyone of his rings. Once he was done, his sunglasses were gone, revealing a pair of bloodshot eyes, and his perfectly-maintained pompadour began to unravel. "Nrghh-No! He lies! Lies I tell you! He's nothing but a second rate assassin! Why should we believe him? And even if I WAS his client, you could only get me for being an accomplice, anyhow!"

Franziska noticed Maya had ducked beneath the defenses' bench during the blood-curdling, earth shaking yell; a yell that still echoed throughout the courtroom.

Edgeworth spoke up; "Very well, but, you are in the showbiz world, aren't you, Mr. Vick? You should know that the impact of the RY-3 case was substantial...it changed the laws. The client of an assassin is now to be tried as the murderer...not just an accomplice. And I believe you're being accused of murder under those circumstances, are you not? You'll be tried in this very courtroom."

"Nrrghh! No! No! Second-rate! Second-rate, I tell you!" He slammed his head down on the witnesses stand, hard.

De Killer spoke up. "But Mr. Vick...keep in mind that there is an heir to my name. I've trained him quite well to replace me upon my retirement. You should know that, due to your betrayal, and bringing shame upon the de Killer name...it will be his first and only priority to restore mine and his ancestors honor..."

Vick laughed...a dark, maniacal laugh that sent shivers down Franziska's spine. "Heh..hehehheheheheheheheheheha-ha-haaaaaaa!"

All of a sudden, Vick pulled out a revolver from his suit pocket, pointing it straight at Maya, who had stood back up at this point. Before anyone could react, a gunshot rung out.

Mick Vick lay at the witness' stand clutching his bloody shoulder, breathing heavily in pain; a bullet hole had pierced and gotten stuck in the judge's beard, although he himself was safe. The most shocking thing, though, was Shelly de Killer, holding a gun at the defendant's stand; he had saved Maya's life.

He spoke up as the cops began taking both him and Mick Vick away. "Your honor, I believe an immediate search is necessary to be performed on Mr. Vick's house. You might find something...of dire importance in there."

The judge just nodded, still in shock and unable to speak. "I...I...find the defandant...Shelly de Killer..."

GUILTY.

Cheers erupted in the gallery; part in the fact that they brought down Vick, and part in respect for the unlikely hero, at least for the day, that is.

Edgeworth, Franziska, Nick, and Maya all sat outside in the lobby together, celebrating their victory, yet somberly.

Franziska didn't pay any attention; she was disoreinted from what all had just transpired; she heard voices, but was unable to determine who's voice they belonged to.

"_I-Is Pearly safe?"_

_ "The police are finding her right now, Maya. All we can do is wait."_

_ "Don't worry; I believe your young cousin will be safe, Maya."_

_ "Franzy? Franzy, what do you think?"_

All of a sudden, a high-pitched scream broke Franziska out of her daze; "MYSTIC MAAYYYYAAAAA!" _Pearl Fey._ It was the only voice she had been able to recognize since the verdict had been handed down.

A young, pale girl with a black eye came running up to Maya in tears. Maya yelled "PEARLY!" And kneeled down, hugging her as they both cried.

After a bit of crying into each other's shoulders, Maya lifted her up. "Pearl...Nick, Mr. Edgeworth and Franzy all helped save you...you need to thank them."

She jumped down from Maya's shoulder and ran to Phoenix Wright. "Mr. Nick! Thank you..." She hugged his sleeve against her cheek for a second, and he reached and patted her on the back. Next came Edgeworth; "Mr. Ed-ji-wurth! Thank you so much!" He pulled his cravat out of his shirt and gave it to her. "Here...keep this with you. I think you deserve it." Pearl promptly blew her nose into it, causing Franziska to wonder where she had seen that before. Pearl walked over her next, and Franziska didn't know what to expect; the young girl had always hated her for some reason.

Pearl turned her nose up and crossed her arms. Franziska saw that the swelling was starting to go down on her eye. "What's that ring doing on your finger?" She impatiently inquired.

Franziska stumbled over her words. "I...I, uh...Miles and I..."

All of a sudden, Pearl brightened up, holding both of her hands to her face with an excited and pleased smile on her face; "Mr. Ed-ji-wurth! Is...is the mean whip-lady your..." She gained a sparkle in her eyes with her next words; "...special someone?"

Miles looked over at Franziska; their eyes met for a second, but it seemed to Franziska as if time stopped around them during that moment, if only for a second; unbeknowest to her, it had felt the exact same way to Miles. "Yes, Pearl...she is."

Pearl let out a long "Awwwwwwwwwww!" Her voice had started high, dove low, and went back up to high at the end.

Yes, it seemed to Franziska as if she had been waiting for this very moment all of her life.


	32. Chapter 32

CHAPTER 32

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: This work sits at the top of the mountain for anything I've ever written; I felt I should give them a wedding at the end, since they got engaged in the story, after all. I'll never forget writing this story; the times I woke up at 4 in the morning just to write it, the fun I had, the work I put into it...it's going to always hold a special place in my heart.**

**One last thing: Please check out the poll on my profile! It's going to determine what I write next, so I would really appreciate it if I got some more votes. **

** Well, I hope everyone loved The Road Paved in Blood and Tears as much as I do! **

** -ghostfacekiller39**

_3 months later_

Franziska, Maya, and Pearl all sit together in a tent pitched outside in a wide, open field; It was tall enough to stand straight up in, and had enough room for a mirror, a dresser, and 3 chairs to sit in; 4 light bulbs on top of the mirror lit up the tent, with the lights set up outside further illuminating the area inside of the tent.

Maya was helping Franziska put on a solid white wedding gown. By this point, they had already applied her make-up, and Pearl stay seated in a chair playing around with Pesu, who had been giving free reign of the event, and wondered into the bride's tent. The dog's presence made Franziska even more nervous than she was. _What if he drools on my wedding dress...?_

Thoughts of self doubt had been entering and exiting her mind; she was ready to be married to Miles, no question, but the nervousness of something going wrong on her wedding day was causing her great stress.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the field was another tent with 3 men in it; it was furnished with the same things as Franziska's tent, but the mirror was more of a full body kind, rather than a speciality one for make-up as it was in Franziska's tent. Of course, Edgeworth didn't know that.

Phoenix was to be the best man, and Larry, the 3rd man in the tent, did not approve is the groom's decision to just leave him standing up with him at the alter, a groomsmen. He was struggling to put on the suit that the other 2 had easily slid on. Miles' suit was more elegant, but they all 3 had custom-tailored suits, each with their own individual vest and a bowtie in a color of their choosing (Crimson red for Miles, navy blue for Phoenix, and a burnt orange for Larry.) Miles had considered wearing a cravat, but decided that it didn't look very good with his suit.

Larry finally was able to put his suit on; "YO! EDGEY! WHY AM I NOT THE BEST MAN!?" Miles and Phoenix were seated in 2 of the 3 chairs, each with a cup of tea. Miles took a sip of his before responding. "Because, Larry, you would probably find a to ruin the wedding."

Phoenix spoke up. "He'd probably eat the cake before you and Franziska cut it."

Miles shrugged and looked at his left and then at his right hand. "Of he'd probably talk about sex during his best man's toast."

Larry was infuriated; "NO! ...I just wanted to look good in front of Franziska's lady friends..."

Miles tapped his forehead with his index finger, and took another sip of his tea. "Larry, we're her friends."

Larry blushed and let out a grin. "So she thinks of me as a friend?"

Miles just smiled confidently; "No. Just Phoenix, Maya, Pearl, and I guess you can say myself. She despises you."

Larry's teeth grew sharp. "HEY! NOT COOL, BRO!"

Franziska picked her whip up from off of the mirror's desk segment that had all of her makeup on top of it. She and Maya had just gotten done with her wedding dress; it was a shiny white, and she wore a veil along with elbow-length white leather gloves. Maya and Pearl wanted to wear their acolyte clothing to the wedding. Pearl was to be the flowergirl (Since they knew no little boys, Officer Meekins was going to be the ring bearer. Franziska just prayed to all that is holy he didn't mess anything up.)

When she felt she was ready, she lifted her veil up and turned around. Maya's jaw dropped, but Franziska was too nervous and lacking in confidence to notice. "..W-well, how do I look?" Maya clapped her hands together once and then held them in place, wearing a huge grin. "Franzy! You look BEAUTIFUL!" Pearl got up from her playdate with Pesu to see what Maya was talking about. After seeing her, she crossed her arms and blew out a "Hmph." Similar to what Franziska did when she tried to appear unimpressed. "I think Mystic Maya's prettier." Maya just looked down at her cousin. "Pearly! She's getting married today! Be nice!" Franziska, however, just let out a laugh. "It's ok, Maya. It's fine, really." She had thought the little girl to be cute when she did this.

Gumshoe walked in, wearing his detective's uniform. _CRACK! _"Scruffy! Why are you not wearing the suit I picked out for you!?" He jumped back and yelped out an "Ouch!"

"S-sorry, sir..I accidentally shrunk it in the dryer..." Franziska just sighed. _CRACK! CRACK! Fool...couldn't even do this one thing right...oh well. I guess I still should thank him for what he's doing..._

Gumshoe brightened up. "Oh, you two!" He turned his attention to Maya and Pearl; "They're ready for you outside." Pearl squealed with excitement and grabbed her basket full of flower petals, and raced Maya out the tent.

After they had left, Franziska put her veil down. "How do I look, Scruffy?"

He smiled; "You look astounding, sir." With that, Franziska heard the organs begin to play; she grabbed her whip in both hands in place of the traditional bouquet of flowers, and interlocked arms with Gumshoe, as she made her way to the aisle.

When she arrived at the aisle, everyone turned to see her and Gumshoe marching down together; since her father couldn't give her away, she asked Gumshoe to replace him for the night. She saw Edgeworth up at the alter, a warm, glowing expression on his face, smiling at her. She smiled back, although she knew her veil concealed it. Beside him were Phoenix Wright and Larry, and Maya was standing on the side she was to be standing on. Pearl was tossing the flowers out of her basket, and Mike Meekins with their rings on a pillow. They had all felt bad for him and being convicted of a murder he didn't commit, so they helped him by fulfulling on of his dreams of being a ring bearer; the other half of that dream was to do it dressed as the Blue Badger, but Franziska wasn't that nice.

Once she arrived, Gumshoe turned her elbow loose and he, Meekins, Pearl, went to go sit by the date detective Gumshoe had brought along with him, a woman by the name of Maggey Byrde. The rest of the precinct and the prosecutor's office, along with a few of Phoenix's friends from his past cases, had shown up as well, although she didn't know any of them very well. The preacher made his way to them. He reminded them both of a certain butler they had both known and loved from their childhood, but they let it go.

She held her whip like a bouquet as she and Miles' eyes remained interlocked during the preacher's eulogy. They were to infatuated with one another to listen to him, however. Once he spoke the words "You may now kiss the bride." It was as if they were both thrust back into reality, and Miles lifted up her veil and their lips interlocked, causing an uproar of applause for the crowd. During this kiss, Franziska remembered only one thing; her father telling her about perfection. She thought to herself _If you claim perfection, you don't really know what it is. This is truly...perfection._

Once they pulled back, she let out a giggle, and they made their way down to the crowd, hand in hand.

Catering had provided both German and American dishes, and they enjoyed all of them. While she was eating, she heard the sound of silverware tapping on a wine glass. Wright stood up, and she struck wine from her thoughts and replaced it with Grape Juice; after all, they had gotten him and Pearl a large bottle to share for the wedding.

He began to speak; "You know, I've known these two for a while now. Miles since we were children, and Franziska since she began prosecuting over here in the USA, and I just would like to say, I never thought two people could be more well fit for each other; two rich sticks-in-the-mud..." He grinned, and everyone, including Miles and Franziska, let out a chuckle, more out of respect to the best man than the fact his joke was funny. "But you know, when we were little, Miles had wanted to be a defense attorney like his dad more than anything...but, due to circumstance out of his control, he became a prosecutor instead. I was so angry at him. I would never forgive him. But you know, know that fate has a funny way of working things out. I think that that's why we're all here today; fate. That's why Miles became a prosecutor; fate. And I know that when fate brings two people together like this, nothing will never, ever bring them apart." He sat down to a loud uproar of appluase.

Miles had been geniunely moved to tears by Wright's words; it was as if, he saw his father speaking to him through Wright during that speech.

Festivities carried on; the dances, the socialization, the eating. It had been the best day of their lives. When it had all come to an end, though, Miles, Franziska, Pearl, Phoenix, Maya, Larry and Gumshoe all sat together at a small, round table in the open field. It was nighttime now, and Miles was taking Franziska back to Germany for their Honeymoon the next morning. Franziska let out a sigh; "You know, I can't picture things turning out any better than this." As soon as these words left her mouth, she realized they were true. Miles nodded in agreement; they were watching Larry and Maya fight over the last hamburger and Gumshoe and Pearl playing around with Pesu; Wright was digging through his coat pockets for something. Curiousity got the best of her, and she decided to finally ask what he was looking for. "Phoenix Wright, why are you so hastily searching through your jacket pockets for something?" He replied with a strained "Hold on, I think I found it." He pulled out a small camera with a built in tri-pod and set it up. "Everyone, come over here! We've got to take a picture!" Franziska saw a grim look on Miles' face; he hated pictures. She grabbed his hand and pulled them over there with everyone else; Phoenix set the camera to take a picture in 3 seconds and ran over there as quick as he could to join the rest of them.

_FLASH!_

The picture developed and it was...awful. From Left to Right: Miles had started walking away mid shot, Franziska had jumped back in shock as Pesu had started drooling on her shoes, Wright, in his haste, had bumped into Gumshoe and not turned around quick enough, Pearl stuck her toungue out at the camera, Maya stood behind her with two fingers held behind her younger cousins head with a cross-eyed look on her face, and Larry stood behind Maya, doing the same to her as she was doing to Pearl, chewing on a burger with his mouth open.

The bride and the groom let out a sound of disgust; Franziska spoke up. "We must take another picture. NOW." Miles wasn't too fond of the idea; "No, we should have never taken a picture in the first place."

Larry was took the picture from Edgeworth's hand and began turning it to look at it from all angles; "No way, dudes! This is scrapbook cover material!"

Miles and Franziska let out a groan. Maya took it from Larry. "No way! I had the newspaper write an article about this wedding! I'm sending this to them!"

You could see the shock on the two newlyweds face; Phoenix took the picture from Maya. "No, now that I think about it...Mick Vick's case is still the talk of the national news, and it's headline worthy that the prosecution in his case are now married...maybe I should send this to them..."

Miles and Franziska couldn't take it anymore; they pointed at Wright and let out a cry at the same time;

OBJECTION!

**In loving memory of Erik Brandon Burgess, May 14, 1973 - June 28, 2013. The weight of it all has been lifted off of your wings, and I hope you can finally fly like the free bird you truly are.**


End file.
